Outcasts and Outlaws Volume 3
by Halogod97
Summary: Team Kalos returns from their lengthy mission with news that Damien is headed for Beacon, but what they don't know is that his intentions might no be what they think. There is a worse evil at play, a merciless mastermind who must he stopped at any cost and Connor and his allies are the ones for the job. How will they fare against the most powerful enemies they've faced yet?
1. Chapter 1- The Last Mission

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 1

The Last Mission

 **All righty here it is, volume 3! First of all I want to thank the Reddit user who drew the cover picture for doing so. This volume is going to the longest yet, around 36 chapters! It's starts off pretty slow and peaceful, as the opening will make evident, but this is the most action packed volume yet once things really get rolling. This chapter dives straight into some action however, so enjoy!**

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/zL6lJ3cP6kw

[The Pet Girl of Sakurasou OP 2]

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS V3

(Cherry blossoms fly past the screen)

Harewataru sora wa aoku!

(Shows Connors feet running) Chikazuitekuru

(Shows Connor's while he's running)

ashioto!

(Shows Ruby in a cherry blossom tree)

(Ruby jumps down from the tree) Hikaridashita kaze

(She lands in front of Connor)

Ni osa

(Shows Ruby looking at Connor) Reru

(Shows Connor looking back at her)

you ni hora

(Shows them both looking at each other)

Deatteshimatta!

(Zooms on Connor and shows flashbacks of him)

Sorezore no yume!

(Zooms on Ruby and shows flashbacks of her)

Sorezore no mirai!

(Connor and Ruby turn around and see each other)

Makenai

(They walk towards each other) you ni hashiri!

(Shows Mars)

Kizuitara zutto

(Shows flashbacks of Mars)

issho ni itanda!

(Shows a young Connor smiling behind him)

Dare yori mo!

(Shows Jim and Yang eating together)

Nayande

(Shows Jim carrying Yangs shopping)

ochikande

(Shows Yang yelling at Connor) naite

(Yang gets Connor in a headlock) Waratte!

(Shows all of them at a table celebrating)

Kasokushiteku!

(Shows Kane)

Kimi ni todoke!

(Shows Irileth)

Sora wo kakete!

(Irileth tries to hug Kane but he moves)

Massugu na

(She tries again and he moves again)

omoi

(Stephane runs in between both of them)

gyutto dakishime!

(Shows Connor and Ruby together) Kitto

(Zooms on Connor's face when he smiles)

umaretate

(Ruby smiles back)

no tsuyosa

(Ruby runs over to Connor)

wa mune ni!

(Ruby hugs Connor)

Kono kimochi ga tsubasa

(Connor takes Ruby's hand)

ni nari!

(Connor and Ruby run to the Beacon entrance)

Watashi wa watashi wo tameteyuku!

(Connor and Ruby meet up with everyone else at the Beacon entrance)

END

Night. The city of Vacuo. The docks. Members of the White Fang, a terrorist group of Faunas, worked hard loading crates into airships. Crates full of dust, energy for weapons. Roman Torchwick, their leader, walked among them. He inspected the crates as they boarded, kept his men in line.

A metal, mechanical hand grabbed the edge of a nearby warehouse roof and the connecting robot arm pulled its user up. Then Jim looked down a the dock, lifting his hat up away from his eyes, and flexing the joint of his robot arm. The mechanical limb had been added shortly after he had left on his mission with the rest of his team. It was comprised of steel plates, cogs and wires that connected to his nerves where his arm had been severed.

A hand on his shoulder, he looked round, saw the team leader beside him. "What are they up to?" Connor asked, his eyesight shoddy thanks to his eyepatch, which hid a skin covered eye socket.

"Looks like they're smuggling dust, just as usual." Jim replied, slightly annoyed at the lack of unusual activity. "Their leaders here though, might get some information out of him."

"I hope so." Kane said, kneeling down on the other side of Jim. "I'd hate to go back to Beacon with nothing to show for our 3 month long mission."

"I'm sure he'll have some sort of information." Mars chipped in from behind the three, getting a closer look with his mind power semblance. "Either way, I'm glad to be headed back after this operation. We've been out here way too long."

There was then a moment of short silence while the four of them observed the gang loading crates, then Jim spoke. "So how are gonna go about this?"

"You baboons are too slow! We should've been out of here ten minutes ago!" Roman Torchwick yelled to his masked soldiers. "I swear if Cinder gets angry at me about this, all of you are gonna be the ones getting punished, I'll make sure of it." He finished that scolding by slamming his cane down the ground, making a point.

Suddenly a scream was heard from behind a shipping crate and a Faunus soldier came flying out from behind it, knocked out cold. "Ugh...what now?" Roman groaned, and began to walk towards the crate to investigate. "Is that you Red? Come on out!"

As he walked, Roman didn't see the small green mark on the floor, not until he stepped on it and a translucent green dome formed around him. "Hey, baboons!" He cried. "Help me, I'm under attack!"

Despite the insult, Roman's men moved to help him on his command, but were blocked by two people in cloaks dropping down in front of them.

Play Music: http/youtu.be/aXmXjxk7onM

[Fairy Tail OST- Dragon Slayer Theme]

Flexing his robot hand, Connor said, "Oh well would you look at that, a big group of White Fang members. You know I do hate terrorists, don't you Kane?"

Cracking his knuckles menacingly, Kane answered, "Let's teach them a lesson."

"Agreed." Connor concurred, and the two them held their hands out next to each other. Kane's hand became enveloped in black clouds and Connors hand metal hand shined bright with light. Next the two of them held out their hands in front of them and shot out black clouds and light, scattering the White Fang members.

Separating from his side by side stance with Kane, Connor shot forward and punched down a Faunus before he could fire his energy rifle. He then ducked under a shot, stood up and blocked another shot with the light from his metal hand, and fired a bolt of light towards the one who had shot at him. He then concentrated the light in his hands and punched a Faunus that was the first in a large group, knocking down the entire group of them with the power of his punch.

Ignoring Connors side of the battle, Kane walked forward towards a group of White Fang members with red curved swords. One stepped forward to challenge him, had their attack parried by Kane's bare fist, and was then punched in the face and went down. The rest of the sword wielding group started to look uncertain, but Kane continued walk forward resisting the urge to whip out his scythe and kill them all.

As Kane came closer, one of the group raised his blade up into the air and chanted, trying to motivate his peers. Despite looking unsure of it himself, his fellow White Fang members followed his rally and raised their swords in the air above their heads, then ran at Kane.

Completely unfazed by the assault, Kane held a hand out in front of him and summoned black clouds up from the ground. The grounds grew into tendrils which lifted the enemies up into the air and suspended them there. After that Kane looked across to see Connor knocking out the last one on his side and completely ignoring the enemies that were struggling uselessly to free themselves from the black clouds, walked over to him.

Meanwhile, Roman was still stuck inside the small green dome that Mars had cleverly trapped him in. He and Jim walked up and looked into the dome, ready to start interrogating him. Roman was having none of hit however and aimed his cane at the ground, then fired off a dust bullet which created a small explosion inside the dome. The smoke created by the blast distracted Mars and the dome disappeared, letting Roman free.

Mars instantly started throwing punches towards their target, who blocked the attacks with his cane. Knowing he wouldn't beat him with fists alone, so he used his semblance to summon up a large green fist behind Roman and punched at him with it. Roman quickly turned and blocked the fist with his cane, then tried to push it away. While he struggled, Jim ran up and hit him with his metal arm, sending him sliding across the ground.

Roman groaned and stood up, then reached into his white jacket and took out a small remote control. "End of the line, boys!" He cried as he pressed a button on the remote. On his command, an enormous military robot came running out of a nearby warehouse, having smashed through the door. Roman climbed up its frame and into the cockpit, then fiddled with some controls to equip it with a sword and energy blaster. "Time to take out the trash." He muttered.

As the robot swung its sword towards Mars, Jim ran in front and punched with his robot hand, his semblance giving him enough strength to hold back the blade with his sword alone. "Kane, Connor! We need backup!"

Forgetting about the enemies that were now laying on the ground unconscious, Connor and Kane rushed over to help. As Jim grabbed the sword with two hands and flung the ginormous war machine towards his two teammates, Connor and Kane took out their katana and scythes and began hacking and slashing at the steel, having no effect but to stagger the goliath. The robot next swung downwards with its oversized sword, and Connor countered by charging his aura into his own weapon and turning it into a massive cleaver of light energy, which he used to block the swing. He then repelled the robots sword and swung his own massive weapon, cutting through the metal and severing its sword arm.

After that, the other arm with the energy blaster aimed at Connor and shot a blast of dust energy at him, knocking him back as Kane charged forward. He jumped up to the cockpit and smashed a hand through the thick glass window, trying to grab and pull out Roman. Unfortunately, a rocket launcher opened up on the shoulder and shot Kane off before he could reach.

Just as the robot aimed another shot of its energy blaster, it's arm was suddenly dragged down and locked in place, and it legs immobilised. Connor and Kane looked over to see Mars using his telekinetic semblance to hold the robot still. "Now! Use the Darklight Explosion combo!" He yelled.

Knowing exactly what the codeword meant, Jim grabbed Kane and Connor from behind by the collars and threw them high into the air. The two of them then summoned up golden light and black clouds whilst in midair and combined them together, forming a black cloud ball with brilliant light shining through the cracks. As the two fell towards the helpless Roman and his robot, they yelled out the code name of their attack, "Darklight Explosion!"

Just as the name suggested, the robot exploded with dark and light as the two of them hit it. Roman was thrown from the wreckage, bruised and battered, but still able to get up. "I just had that thing cleaned." He joked to himself, making himself laugh inside a little. He stopped laughing however, when Connor put his shotgun to the side of his face, and the rest of the team gathered around him.

"Damien, leader of the Outlaws. Where is he?" Connor demanded, poking Romans bowler hat with his gun to show he was serious.

"How should I know?" Roman scowled back, not the slightest bit interested in leaking information just because he's been beaten.

Roman bit his tongue as he felt the blade of Kane's scythe near his neck from behind. "Don't mess us around, we know you've been in contact with him recently, being fellow criminals and all."

Roman scowled again and realised to he didn't really care all that much about Damien to risk his own life, then answered, "He's headed south."

"That's in the direction of Beacon." Mars noted.

Connor looked at Roman one last time, decided he wasn't going to get anymore information out of him, and moved his shotgun away. Kane also moved away his scythe and Roman relaxed, letting out a breath. "It's not in our jurisdiction to arrest you, so for now you're free to go." Connor told him and then turned to look at his teammates. "As for us...I guess we're going back to Beacon."

Ending Music: https/youtu.be/URQJP9UbjdA

[Nisekoi OP 1]

(Shows tiny Grimm bird flying)

Kioku ga hiraku oto! Kikitai kara! (The tiny Grimm bird flies over young Connor's head)

Kimi ni sashidasou!

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS V3

(Shows Connor waking up)

Aa, konna ni mo!

(Connor leaves his room and starts running down the corridor) Taisetsu na omoi mo!

(Connor runs past Mars)

Toki no suna

(Connor runs past Kane)

ga ooikakushite!

(Shows Connor run past Team JNPR as they come out of their room)

Aimai ni shite shimau keredo! (Connor stops at the stairs and runs up them)

Unmei nante kotoba

(Shows Connor running to the top of the stairs)

wa chiipu da nante!

(Shows Connor run down the corridor to the other stairs)

Issho ni warai atteru kimi ga! (Connor jumps down the stairs) Sono hito datarri suru no ka na! (Shows Irileth, Stephane and Nora) Kitto!

(Shows Connor on his back and sitting up)

Minna daji na koto!

(Connor looks behind him)

Sokushi zutzu

(Jim, Yang and Ruby are behind him. Ruby seeing if he is okay) wasurete iku kara!

(Connor smiles back at them and stands up)

Kimi to no omoide wa!

(Connor stands with Jim, Yang and Ruby)

Wazuka dake demo

(Jim walks past Connor and pats his shoulder, and then Connor, Ruby and Yang follow him) takusasete yo!

(Shows the Kalos Crystal)

Sorou hazunai pazura!

(Shows Irileth from behind) Kakusheteta

(Shows Stephane from behind) Saigo no kakera!

(Shows Nora walking)

Kioku ga hiraku oto!

(Shows Ruby and Yang)

Kikitai kara! Kimi ni sashidasou! (Connor pops up)

(Jim appears next to him)

(Shows them walking into Beacon) END

 **I'm going to be trying to upload a chapter of this a day at least. This time of year is busy and I'm still writing ahead, but I'll try my best! Hope you all enjoyed the first chapter, follow and favourite for more!**


	2. Chapter 2- Return To Beacon

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 2

Return to Beacon

 **Reading this back gave me so much nolstsgia. Even just this volume, which is only two behind what I'm currently at must have been written about two years ago by now. It's insane to think I've put that much time into this series. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/zL6lJ3cP6kw

[The Pet Girl of Sakurasou OP 2]

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS V3

(Cherry blossoms fly past the screen)

Harewataru sora wa aoku!

(Shows Connors feet running) Chikazuitekuru

(Shows Connor's while he's running)

ashioto!

(Shows Ruby in a cherry blossom tree)

(Ruby jumps down from the tree) Hikaridashita kaze

(She lands in front of Connor)

Ni osa

(Shows Ruby looking at Connor) Reru

(Shows Connor looking back at her)

you ni hora

(Shows them both looking at each other)

Deatteshimatta!

(Zooms on Connor and shows flashbacks of him)

Sorezore no yume!

(Zooms on Ruby and shows flashbacks of her)

Sorezore no mirai!

(Connor and Ruby turn around and see each other)

Makenai

(They walk towards each other) you ni hashiri!

(Shows Mars)

Kizuitara zutto

(Shows flashbacks of Mars)

issho ni itanda!

(Shows a young Connor smiling behind him)

Dare yori mo!

(Shows Jim and Yang eating together)

Nayande

(Shows Jim carrying Yangs shopping)

ochikande

(Shows Yang yelling at Connor) naite

(Yang gets Connor in a headlock) Waratte!

(Shows all of them at a table celebrating)

Kasokushiteku!

(Shows Kane)

Kimi ni todoke!

(Shows Irileth)

Sora wo kakete!

(Irileth tries to hug Kane but he moves)

Massugu na

(She tries again and he moves again)

omoi

(Stephane runs in between both of them)

gyutto dakishime!

(Shows Connor and Ruby together) Kitto

(Zooms on Connor's face when he smiles)

umaretate

(Ruby smiles back)

no tsuyosa

(Ruby runs over to Connor)

wa mune ni!

(Ruby hugs Connor)

Kono kimochi ga tsubasa

(Connor takes Ruby's hand)

ni nari!

(Connor and Ruby run to the Beacon entrance)

Watashi wa watashi wo tameteyuku!

(Connor and Ruby meet up with everyone else at the Beacon entrance)

END

Connor looked at the main entrance of Beacon, from the grand oak door to the spires on the roof. It had taken the team two weeks to travel back from Vacuo, bringing their total time away up to four months. As he looked over the old building, Connor couldn't help but reminisce. He'd met Ruby at Beacon, fought for his life on a few different occasions, and now he had finally returned.

"Are we gonna go inside or what?" Mars complained, standing a ways behind Connor with Jim and Kane. "You've been staring at the entrance for five whole minutes!"

"Uh...oh...yeah...ok." Connor quietly responded, then looked as if he was thinking hard about something.

"What's the matter?" Kane asked, more impatient than anything else.

"Oh...it's just..." Connor sheepishly responded. "I wanted to go and find Ruby before reporting to Ozpin, but I've no idea where she'd be at this time since I've been away so long."

Sighing with a smile, Jim walked up and stood next to his friend, then pointed his robot arm at the clock face of Beacon. "It's quarter past twelve, which means she's probably in the lunch hall with the rest of her team." He informed Connor. "We should go in through the side door so Ozpin doesn't see us and call us to his office."

"All right then." Connor replied and then somewhat nervously said, "Let's go."

Meanwhile in the hall, Team RWBY was sat at their table, having just finished eating lunch. Blake had her head in a book as usual, Weiss was busy studying, and Yang and Ruby were talking amongst themselves.

"Alright, question five." Yang said to her younger sister. "When in combat against a Deathstalker Grimm, which parts of its body should you target?"

Ruby groaned in cluelessness and then answered, "The pincers?"

"No!" Yang corrected. "The correct answer is the eyes or the tail! What's wrong with you Ruby? You used to be so good at this stuff!"

"I don't know Yang..." Ruby replied, crossing her arms on the table and resting her head on them. "Since Connor went on that mission, I've felt so lonely..."

"You have us!"

"It's not the same!"

The side doors of the hall swung open. Four sets of feet walked in.

"I just...I really miss him Yang." Ruby continued, oblivious to what was happening just behind her. "I didn't think it would be so bad, but it is."

The four pairs of feet stopped behind Ruby. A robot hand pushed forward a figure in a white coat.

"I kind wish he'd left me something." Ruby carried on, as Yang saw the four figures behind them. "Just something to remember him by...I keep hoping he'll just walk up to me and say 'I'm back!'"

"Excuse me!" The figure behind Ruby said. "I'm looking for a 'Miss Rose'. Short girl, dresses in red, very cute. Seen her around?"

Ruby turned around at the sound of the voice, knowing instantly who it belonged to. She rose to her feet as she swung round to face him, unable to contain her excitement. When she saw his face, despite being pretty sure who it was before turning round, she was too shocked for words. Meanwhile, on the other side of the table, Yang sat with her mouth wide open in surprise.

"Oh, hey Rubes." Connor greeted casually, unable to hold back a giant grin. "How've you been?"

Ruby's response was to instantly jump up and run at Connor, then embrace him in a tight hug. She clung tightly to him, wrapping her arms around his back as she happily sobbed into his chest. Connor looked down at her with a content smile, and patted her on the head. "There there Rubes." He comforted. "It's alright, I'm back."

Ruby pulled her head away from his chest and looked up at him, her arms still wrapped around him. She stopped the tears that were slowly coming from her eyes and said, "I really missed you. Yang and the others kept me company, but it wasn't the same."

"Speaking of Yang..." Connor said, looking over at still shocked blonde warrior at the table. "Hello there dear sister of mine-"

Connor was then rudely interrupted by Yang jumping from her seat at the table, launching herself over it, and punching Connor square in the face, knocking him out of Ruby's arms and down to the ground. "I told you not to call me that!" She yelled at him.

While Connor lay on the floor, rubbing his red face and being aided up by Ruby, Jim greeted Yang merrily. "Hello Yang!" He said.

Yang strolled up to Jim, temporarily forgetting about Connor. "How's the arm?" She asked, grabbing it roughly and inspecting it.

"It seems to be working just fine." Jim replied, not at all concerned with how roughly Yang was handling his mechanical limb. While he knew that with her strength she could easily break it, he knew that she wouldn't dare. "Uhh...what are doing now?" He asked her as she held is arm up in the air to get a look at his elbow and then started prodding the screws.

"These screws need adjusting, I can do that myself." She responded, then looked down into the wired area behind the steel plated exterior. "The inside of the plating is rusted, how did that happen?"

"I...fell in a lake." Jim nervously answered, looking away from Yang as she eyed him suspiciously.

"You went swimming didn't you?" She accused, not afraid to be direct.

"No!"

"Don't lie to me."

"Okay, yes I went swimming!" Jim admitted, looking back at Yang, as she got a little mad.

"You...idiot!" She scolded, her grip on his metal arm tightening. "I told you contact with water is bad for metal limbs like this! Do you want it to fall off?!"

"How do know so much about it?" Jim asked, trying to change the subject and avoid getting punched like Connor had. "I didn't know you were such a good engineer."

"I attended Signal Academy before coming to Beacon." Yang answered. "All students there are required to make their own weapons, so I had to become a competent engineer."

Having calmed down a little, Yang loosened her grip on the metal and looked down at it, then instantly grew annoyed again. Jim looked down where she had looked and saw that, because of her brutish strength, she had created a dent in the metal. Yang scowled and began walking away, pulling Jim along behind her and ordering, "Come with me! I'm gonna fix it right now!"

As the two of them left the hall and headed for the workshop, Ruby started chatting excitedly to Connor about all that has happened while he's been gone. She told him that she'd recently spent a lot of time training, along with the rest of her team, for the end of year exams. A couple of weeks ago Ozpin had announced that each student would be individually matched against a specially trained opponent, to assess their battle skills at the end of the school year. The same would also happen in teams, meaning all four members of a team would go up against a specially trained team of opponents, meaning each student would be given two practical grades. On top of that, the teachers were also encouraging sparring matches between students as a way to train for the exams, and as a way to bond with the wave of new exchange students that commonly appeared near the end of each year.

Connor and Ruby's conversation was cut off however, when a girly scream was heard from somewhere in the hall. Then out of nowhere, Nora came bounding across the tabletops towards them yelling, "Connor! You're back!"

Before she could jump onto Connor and cling to him like a child clings to sweets, Kane stepped in front of him and put his hand on her head, keeping her back. "Kane! Let me go! I wanna see Connor!" She cried before Ren appeared behind her and dragged her away as she excitedly kicked and struggled.

As Connor and Ruby watched and laughed as Nora was dragged away, Mars stepped forward and greeted Ruby, "Hello there, Miss Rose. Lovely to see you again. Can I interest you in a pickle sandwich?"

"Uh...no...I'm good." Ruby replied, very confused by Mars' actions.

"Good, because I don't have any." Mars said whilst smiling, thinking he'd just created the funniest joke of all time, whilst Connor and Ruby thought it extremely unfunny. "Now Connor," He continued, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We should get to Ozpins office and report to him, before he finds out we didn't go straight there."

Right on cue, Ozpins voice was heard on the megaphone across the entirety of the hall. "Team KALOS to my office, now."

Connor slumped his shoulders and gulped. Ozpin probably wouldn't be too happy with him for not reporting in first thing, but he decided to put on a brave face. "All right, Rubes, I'll see you later."

Before he left, Ruby reached up and kissed him on the cheek, then looked him in the eye and pleaded, "Don't be long, I wanna hear about your mission." Connor nodded in response, silently promising his quick return, then followed Mars out the hall to Ozpin's office, Kane promptly following them.

About ten minutes later Team Kalos (Minus Jim, who was still getting his robot arm repaired by Yang) were in Ozpins office, all stood in a line in front of him. Ozpin himself sat behind his desk, drinking a mug of coffee as always. Ozpin eventually put down his mug, looked at the three in front of him and frowned. "You should've reported straight to me." He lightly scolded.

"I wanted to see Ruby." Connor replied, sternly staring back Ozpin.

Ozpin saw the seriousness on Connor's face and relinquished. "All right, that's acceptable." He said, and then decided to move on the the main point of discussion. "So, what information did Roman Torchwick give you that lead you back here?"

"Damien's heading south from Vacuo." Kane answered obediently. "There's a chance he found out we were gone and is coming back here for something."

"It's probable he knows we've been looking for him," Mars added, "Otherwise he wouldn't be moving around so much, and trying to cover his tracks."

"Alright, I'll have everyone on lookout for anyone suspicious." Ozpin responded. "In other news, you came back at quite the splendid time. To celebrate the new wave of exchange students arriving, I've arranged a formal party in the ball hall. It'll be tomorrow night at six o'clock, so get yourselves ready for then."

"That's a bit short notice." Connor complained, looking down at his tattered and battle scarred outfit.

"I'm sure someone on campus will be able to provide you with the appropriate attire." Ozpin told him. "And Connor, please don't repeat what happened last time. As touching as your confession to Miss Rose was, I'd rather you didn't drink quite as much as you did that night."

As Connor grew embarrassed by the memory of it, Kane and Mars both turned their heads and looked at him. Kane with regret at remembering that night, and Mars with confused curiosity. "You got drunk? That's new, what happened?" Mars inquired.

"I only had two drinks...someone spiked them..." Connor replied, then looked at Ozpin accusingly. Kane and Mars followed suite, staring in disbelief at the headmaster.

Failing to hold back an amused smile, Ozpin ordered, "You're dismissed." Mars and Kane left immediately, but before Ozpin went to work on his papers, he noticed that Connor had stayed behind.

"Do you want something else?"

"Yes sir, it's about me and Ruby."

Ozpin sighed, adjusted his glasses and leaned back in his chair, having a good idea what it was about. "Go on." He prompted.

"Before we left for the mission all those months ago, you promised me I could start planning my and Ruby's wedding upon its completion." Connor reminded Ozpin. "So what of it?"

Ozpin sighed again, then leaned forward and looked Connor right in the eyes. "I promised that you could do so upon completion of the mission." He explained. "While you are back at Beacon, technically the mission is not yet complete. If Damien doesn't come to Beacon as your team has predicted, you will leave again to search for him."

Connor stared at Ozpin with a look of mixed anger, sadness and disbelief. Then as Ozpin gestured for him to leave the office, he muttered under his breath, "I'll make sure he comes here, then I'll be able to be with Ruby."

Ending Music: https/youtu.be/URQJP9UbjdA

[Nisekoi OP 1]

(Shows tiny Grimm bird flying)

Kioku ga hiraku oto! Kikitai kara! (The tiny Grimm bird flies over young Connor's head)

Kimi ni sashidasou!

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS V3

(Shows Connor waking up)

Aa, konna ni mo!

(Connor leaves his room and starts running down the corridor) Taisetsu na omoi mo!

(Connor runs past Mars)

Toki no suna

(Connor runs past Kane)

ga ooikakushite!

(Shows Connor run past Team JNPR as they come out of their room)

Aimai ni shite shimau keredo! (Connor stops at the stairs and runs up them)

Unmei nante kotoba

(Shows Connor running to the top of the stairs)

wa chiipu da nante!

(Shows Connor run down the corridor to the other stairs)

Issho ni warai atteru kimi ga! (Connor jumps down the stairs) Sono hito datarri suru no ka na! (Shows Irileth, Stephane and Nora) Kitto!

(Shows Connor on his back and sitting up)

Minna daji na koto!

(Connor looks behind him)

Sokushi zutzu

(Jim, Yang and Ruby are behind him. Ruby seeing if he is okay) wasurete iku kara!

(Connor smiles back at them and stands up)

Kimi to no omoide wa!

(Connor stands with Jim, Yang and Ruby)

Wazuka dake demo

(Jim walks past Connor and pats his shoulder, and then Connor, Ruby and Yang follow him) takusasete yo!

(Shows the Kalos Crystal)

Sorou hazunai pazura!

(Shows Irileth from behind) Kakusheteta

(Shows Stephane from behind) Saigo no kakera!

(Shows Nora walking)

Kioku ga hiraku oto!

(Shows Ruby and Yang)

Kikitai kara! Kimi ni sashidasou! (Connor pops up)

(Jim appears next to him)

(Shows them walking into Beacon) END


	3. Chapter 3- New Faces, Old Memories

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 3

New Faces, Old Memories

 **In a hurry to upload this before work, so I'll be brief. This chapter introduces a couple of new characters that'll be in this volume and the next one. Enjoy!**

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/zL6lJ3cP6kw

[The Pet Girl of Sakurasou OP 2]

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS V3

(Cherry blossoms fly past the screen)

Harewataru sora wa aoku!

(Shows Connors feet running) Chikazuitekuru

(Shows Connor's while he's running)

ashioto!

(Shows Ruby in a cherry blossom tree)

(Ruby jumps down from the tree) Hikaridashita kaze

(She lands in front of Connor)

Ni osa

(Shows Ruby looking at Connor) Reru

(Shows Connor looking back at her)

you ni hora

(Shows them both looking at each other)

Deatteshimatta!

(Zooms on Connor and shows flashbacks of him)

Sorezore no yume!

(Zooms on Ruby and shows flashbacks of her)

Sorezore no mirai!

(Connor and Ruby turn around and see each other)

Makenai

(They walk towards each other) you ni hashiri!

(Shows Mars)

Kizuitara zutto

(Shows flashbacks of Mars)

issho ni itanda!

(Shows a young Connor smiling behind him)

Dare yori mo!

(Shows Jim and Yang eating together)

Nayande

(Shows Jim carrying Yangs shopping)

ochikande

(Shows Yang yelling at Connor) naite

(Yang gets Connor in a headlock) Waratte!

(Shows all of them at a table celebrating)

Kasokushiteku!

(Shows Kane)

Kimi ni todoke!

(Shows Irileth)

Sora wo kakete!

(Irileth tries to hug Kane but he moves)

Massugu na

(She tries again and he moves again)

omoi

(Stephane runs in between both of them)

gyutto dakishime!

(Shows Connor and Ruby together) Kitto

(Zooms on Connor's face when he smiles)

umaretate

(Ruby smiles back)

no tsuyosa

(Ruby runs over to Connor)

wa mune ni!

(Ruby hugs Connor)

Kono kimochi ga tsubasa

(Connor takes Ruby's hand)

ni nari!

(Connor and Ruby run to the Beacon entrance)

Watashi wa watashi wo tameteyuku!

(Connor and Ruby meet up with everyone else at the Beacon entrance)

END

The day after their return to Beacon, just before six o'clock, the members of Team Kalos were gathered in their room, getting ready for the party. Upon returning to their dorm room, they had noticed that the sign on their door had been changed, and now read 'Team Kalos'. In addition, the room had been adjusted to accommodate all four of them, with beds and dresses for everyone. They also found that tuxedos had been laid out for them on each of their beds, just as Ozpin had suggested. The four of them wasted no time changing into the suits, none of them worried about dressing in the same room. Having been travelling around on their mission for months, they'd had to do it before.

As Connor made final adjustments to his black bow tie in the mirror, Jim, dressed only from the waist down, clapped him on the back from behind and grinned into the glass. Much to Connor's surprise, Jim had taken off his hat for the occasion, something Connor had never seen him do. Even when they had slept in the wild together on some nights of their long mission, Jim had never removed his headgear. He kept in on while he rested and even on the occasions that they undressed in front of each other, dubbing privacy a worthless luxury, he had always been wearing buttoned shirts. Because of that, he had never removed his hat in front of Connor before.

"Jim...you're a Faunus?!" Connor exclaimed, seeing the brown furry ears atop his buddies head for the first time.

"Yeah...is that a problem?" Jim replied, wondering if his friend had anything against the Faunus.

"No! Not at all!" Connor frantically assured his friend. "I just had no idea since you never took off your hat before."

Jim chuckled as he walked across the room to grab a bottle of deodorant, and sprayed it over himself whilst telling Connor, "I'm part wolf on my mothers side, she was a wolf Faunus, my father was an ordinary human. The reason for the hat is because I'd heard that Faunus discrimination was a bigger problem at Beacon than the teachers would like to admit."

Connor frowned at that. Even though all the teachers at Beacon discouraged Faunus discrimination, and came down hard on anyone who did so, it was still a prominent problem. People like Cardin Winchester and his group of armoured bullies still messed with for Faunus members of Beacon just for being what they are, as if they could help it. "Then why lose the hat now?" Connor asked him curiously.

"I guess I'm just tired of wearing it all the time, and I want the people close to me to know who, what, I am." Jim answered as he buttoned up his white undershirt. "I trust that none of them will treat me any differently, apart from some playful puns."

"So I'm the first one to know about this?" Connor said, happy that Jim had confided in him.

"No, Yang knows. She's known for a while."

"So you told Yang before you told me?" Connor questioned, turning round to face Jim personally instead of through the mirror as he put on his tuxedo jacket.

"Is that a problem?" Jim responded, looking Connor dead in the eyes.

"...I suppose not..." Connor replied, turning back to the mirror to look at his hair. He knew Jim and Yang had grown close before he'd left for the mission, but he had no idea they were that close, close enough for Jim to tell her of his Faunus blood.

"So...being a Faunus means you can see in the dark right?" Connor asked, remembering one of the teachers having mentioned it during a lecture.

"Yeah," Jim answered, buttoning up his jacket and reaching for his bow tie. "And since I'm a wolf Faunus, I also have a heightened sense of smell."

Connor thought about that while Jim saw to the final pieces of his attire. He had wondered for a while how Jim had been able to work in the pitch black on missions and how he was so good at tracking. He's shown off those skills countless times, and yet Connor hadn't put two and two together.

"Come on on, it's six o'clock. Kane and Mars will be waiting." Jim urged, before leaving through the door and waiting outside for Connor to join him. Mars and Kane had gotten ready quickly, so Mars dragged Kane to the ball hall early, in an attempt to make him mingle with whomever entered first and be sociable. "Good luck with that." Connor had sarcastically said.

After a final brush of his usually messy brown hair, Connor followed Jim out of the room and the two of them set off in the direction of the ball hall. They didn't get far however, before Nora came bursting out of Team JNPR's room in a bright pink dress, and burst into excitement when she saw Connor.

"CONNOR!!!" She yelled at the top of her voice, unable to control her childish excitement. "I knew I heard your voice in the hall!" She yelled again, before launching herself at Connor, trying to rope him into a hug.

Before she could however, an orange metal spear came flying out of Team JNPR's open room, followed by Pyrhaa in an orange dress. The spear caught Nora's dress, pinning her to the wall. "Sorry about that." Pyrhaa apologised. "She's just excited to see you."

Pyrhaa then let Nora down and hastily dragged her down the hall before she could jump on Connor again. Nora waved as she was pulled down the corridor, out of sight.

Connor and Jim sighed, realising the redheads behaviour hadn't changed in the months that they'd been away, she was still just as energetic and childish as ever. A few seconds after that, Jaune and Ren ran out of the room in tuxedos and, ignoring Connor and Jim in their haste, ran after their teammates.

It was after that the door of Team RWBY's room opened, and Yang stepped out, wearing a glistening yellow dress. Connor and Jim both marvelled as the dress appeared to shine, an effect of the bright yellow colour.

"What are you staring at?" Yang snapped at the two of them, crossing her arms to cover up her chest.

"It's a nice dress that's all." Connor replied calmly, making sure to keep the compliment to a low standard. "No need to cover your breasts, I'm not a pervert."

"It isn't you I'm worried about..." Yang muttered, glaring at Jim, who was still dumbstruck over Yang's attire. "What do you want birdbrain?" She snapped at Jim again.

Without saying a word, Jim simply stuck out his hand in front of him, gesturing for Yang to take it. He had the smallest of smiles on his face, as if he was trying very hard not to. Yang blushed profusely, something Connor had never seen her do. She'd usually just brush off any confessions or date requests, as she got them pretty often, but this time she didn't. Likewise Jim would usually use a dirty joke or say something like, "Hey baby!" To lure in a girl, but he wasn't saying a thing, perhaps because he knew it wouldn't work on Yang.

Still blushing bright red, Yang took a hold of Jim's fleshy human hand- his robot hand hung at his side- and let herself be lightly dragged off by him. Connor watched, baffled, as the two of them walked to the ball hall together. As he tried to figure out Jim's motives, Ruby stepped out of the door in a short red skirt and tapped him on the shoulder.

Feeling the tap on his shoulder, Connor looked at Ruby and upon seeing her in her attire, reacted similarly to how Jim had reacted to seeing Yang. "Oh, wow." He said, unintentionally gawping at her. "You look...really good in that."

Ruby blushed at the compliment and replied, "Thanks...so should we go?"

Connor looked down at the long hallway ahead of them. All of the others had probably already made it to the hall, so Connor and Ruby would be the last to arrive. He could live with that, if everyone looked at them when they walked in late, he'd enjoy the attention. He held out his hand to Ruby, which she grabbed, their fingers intertwining.

The ball hall was bustling with students dressed in formal wear chatting in groups all around and some dancing to the music, whilst the teachers were leaning against the walls, keeping an eye on the crowd. As Ruby and Connor walked in hand in hand, they spotted Yang and Jim chatting to each other and strolled over to them.

"Yo." Connor cheerily greeted. "What's up, you two? You left me behind in a hurry."

Yang was about to snap back a remark at Connor in defence, but stopped when she saw the two of them holding hands tightly, and glared at their hands. She calmed down slightly when she felt a hand on her shoulder, Jim's robot hand.

"Wait Jim, you're a Faunus?" Ruby questioned, noticing the furry wolf ears sticking out of his brown hair.

"I'll explain that another time." Jim answered, not eager to go through the whole story a second time. "There sure is a lot of exchange students here huh?" He said, changing the subject as he turned around to look at the students in question. Suddenly his face turned serious, almost angry, and he snarled, "What the flying heck is he doing here?!"

The student Jim was looking at was hard for Connor to spot at first, as he was surrounded by a small gaggle of girls, but he was soon found. The exchange student in question was wearing a tuxedo, just like Jim's and Connor's, but it was somehow flashier than theirs. As he spoke to the girls around him, Connor discerned his accent to be quite a foreign one. His hair was blonde, long on one side, and shorter on the other. His face was a handsome one, even Connor could tell that, which explained the girls swooning around him.

"Bastard!" Jim swore, before heading towards the student whom he apparently knew. Connor let go of Ruby's hand and told her to wait there as he and Yang followed to find out what was going on.

As Jim drew closer, the student saw him and grinned callously at him. "Well if it isn't the dirty Faunus! How are Jim, old buddy, old freak?"

"Stephane..." Jim scowled in return. "Why are you here?"

"I am a student here now, Jimmy boy." Stephane responded, deliberately riling Jim up. He then stepped closer to Jim, looked him in the eye, and taunted, "Get used to it, you dirty freaking Faunus."

In response, Jim raised his robot arm and punched at Stephane. As if barely concerned by it, he blindly caught the metal fist in his hand and held it in place while Jim struggled. "Ooh, automail. That's pretty gnarly equipment, where'd you get it?" Stephane interrogated. "More importantly, how'd you lose your real arm?"

"Screw. You." Jim instantly snapped back, pushing harder with his robot arm.

"Ooh, the dirty Faunus knows some dirty language!" Stephane called out to his girls, who were standing behind him, in support of the better looking man. "Where'd you learn that? Your whore of a Faunus mother teach it to you?"

Before he had even finished the sentence, Jim grabbed Stephane's throat with his other hand and squeezed. Stephane calmly scowled at his attack and sent a wave of aura through his right hand, which rippled up Jim's robot arm and shattered it into many small pieces. Jim stood and stared at his broken arm for a moment, having let go of Stephane's throat as he reeled back. The metal plating connecting to his skin was still partially intact, but the wires that were connected to his nerves hung uselessly out of the severed limb. Jim scowled at Stephane and turned away, quickly walking out of the hall.

"Jim! Wait up!" Connor cried out to his friend, then followed him out of the hall. Meanwhile, Yang kneeled down to inspect the broken pieces of Jim's arm. Screws and gears were scattered all across the floor, among wires and pieces of steel plating. After picking up the biggest pieces of steel, she got up and started after Jim. Kane, seeing the ruckus, abandoned Mars and followed also.

"That son a of bitch! I should ripped out his throat right there and then!" Jim yelled as he stormed down the corridor, Connnor, Yang and Kane right behind him. He was so angry that he didn't see the girl step out of Ozpins office as they passed it and subsequently knocked into her.

Quickly getting up from the floor, the girl yelled at Jim. "Watch where you're going dimwit!" The girl had long dyed purple hair in stripes, so that we hair colour alternated between purple and black. She wore a tight, short sleeved, magenta shirt and very short black shorts. On her neck was a runic tattoo resembling the sun, and a piece of cloth was stuck to the back of her shorts, and extended down to her ankles.

Kane pushed past Jim to get a look at the girl, recognising her voice. When he stepped out, the girl exclaimed, "Kane?!"

"Irileth?!"

Ending Music: https/youtu.be/URQJP9UbjdA

[Nisekoi OP 1]

(Shows tiny Grimm bird flying)

Kioku ga hiraku oto! Kikitai kara! (The tiny Grimm bird flies over young Connor's head)

Kimi ni sashidasou!

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS V3

(Shows Connor waking up)

Aa, konna ni mo!

(Connor leaves his room and starts running down the corridor) Taisetsu na omoi mo!

(Connor runs past Mars)

Toki no suna

(Connor runs past Kane)

ga ooikakushite!

(Shows Connor run past Team JNPR as they come out of their room)

Aimai ni shite shimau keredo! (Connor stops at the stairs and runs up them)

Unmei nante kotoba

(Shows Connor running to the top of the stairs)

wa chiipu da nante!

(Shows Connor run down the corridor to the other stairs)

Issho ni warai atteru kimi ga! (Connor jumps down the stairs) Sono hito datarri suru no ka na! (Shows Irileth, Stephane and Nora) Kitto!

(Shows Connor on his back and sitting up)

Minna daji na koto!

(Connor looks behind him)

Sokushi zutzu

(Jim, Yang and Ruby are behind him. Ruby seeing if he is okay) wasurete iku kara!

(Connor smiles back at them and stands up)

Kimi to no omoide wa!

(Connor stands with Jim, Yang and Ruby)

Wazuka dake demo

(Jim walks past Connor and pats his shoulder, and then Connor, Ruby and Yang follow him) takusasete yo!

(Shows the Kalos Crystal)

Sorou hazunai pazura!

(Shows Irileth from behind) Kakusheteta

(Shows Stephane from behind) Saigo no kakera!

(Shows Nora walking)

Kioku ga hiraku oto!

(Shows Ruby and Yang)

Kikitai kara! Kimi ni sashidasou! (Connor pops up)

(Jim appears next to him)

(Shows them walking into Beacon) END


	4. Chapter 4- Kane, The Dark Child

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 5, Chapter 4

Kane, The Dark Child

 **Here's another chapter. This one goes into a previously unseen part of Kane's past.**

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/zL6lJ3cP6kw

[The Pet Girl of Sakurasou OP 2]

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS V3

(Cherry blossoms fly past the screen)

Harewataru sora wa aoku!

(Shows Connors feet running) Chikazuitekuru

(Shows Connor's while he's running)

ashioto!

(Shows Ruby in a cherry blossom tree)

(Ruby jumps down from the tree) Hikaridashita kaze

(She lands in front of Connor)

Ni osa

(Shows Ruby looking at Connor) Reru

(Shows Connor looking back at her)

you ni hora

(Shows them both looking at each other)

Deatteshimatta!

(Zooms on Connor and shows flashbacks of him)

Sorezore no yume!

(Zooms on Ruby and shows flashbacks of her)

Sorezore no mirai!

(Connor and Ruby turn around and see each other)

Makenai

(They walk towards each other) you ni hashiri!

(Shows Mars)

Kizuitara zutto

(Shows flashbacks of Mars)

issho ni itanda!

(Shows a young Connor smiling behind him)

Dare yori mo!

(Shows Jim and Yang eating together)

Nayande

(Shows Jim carrying Yangs shopping)

ochikande

(Shows Yang yelling at Connor) naite

(Yang gets Connor in a headlock) Waratte!

(Shows all of them at a table celebrating)

Kasokushiteku!

(Shows Kane)

Kimi ni todoke!

(Shows Irileth)

Sora wo kakete!

(Irileth tries to hug Kane but he moves)

Massugu na

(She tries again and he moves again)

omoi

(Stephane runs in between both of them)

gyutto dakishime!

(Shows Connor and Ruby together) Kitto

(Zooms on Connor's face when he smiles)

umaretate

(Ruby smiles back)

no tsuyosa

(Ruby runs over to Connor)

wa mune ni!

(Ruby hugs Connor)

Kono kimochi ga tsubasa

(Connor takes Ruby's hand)

ni nari!

(Connor and Ruby run to the Beacon entrance)

Watashi wa watashi wo tameteyuku!

(Connor and Ruby meet up with everyone else at the Beacon entrance)

END

Eight years old, the black haired boy played in the dirt outside his village home in Dust Canyon. He had already drawn a noughts and crosses grid in the ground, and now an x in one of the boxes. He then looked up to his opponent, a girl with hair just as black as his, but with a hint of purple.

"Kane...you never learn do you?" The girl teased, filling in a box with a circle and winning the game. Kane sighed disappointedly, then stood up and scrubbed out the grid with his foot. The girl also stood, and smiled and him.

"Irileth...when will my brother come home?" Kane shyly questioned. His older sibling had gone with a strange man one day, a man who claimed Murlough was of use to him. Neither Kane or Irileth had seen him since.

"Murlough will be back soon..." Irileth comforted, placing a hand on Kane's shoulder. "But it seemed like that man needed him for something really important. I heard him say Outlaws and Civil War, so it's a pretty big deal."

Kane raised his arm to rub tears away from his eyes with it and then sobbed, "I don't eat big bro to die in a war though..."

"He won't die, he's strong, even at his young age. He's a child prodigy, like you're becoming." Irileth told him. "But until he comes back, you've got me! We're the best of friends right?"

Kane wiped away the last of his welling tears and replied, smiling, "Yep, we're super best friends! I wanna be friends with you forever!"

Irileth smiled back and then said, "Hey, remember that time me, you and Murlough found a swamp rat near the river? Murlough picked it up out of the water and said 'This is mine now!'"

Kane giggled from the memory and then added, "Yeah and then it bit his finger!"

Irileth laughed as well, then continued, "And then you used your semblance for the first time, because you thought he was in serious danger, and shot a load of dark clouds at the it! He was so proud of you that day!"

Kane laughed again, then looked away from Irileth and became serious. "I'm gonna make him proud again someday...I'll become a child prodigy just like him and make him proud of me."

"I bet you will." Irileth said sternly, then looked out at the sun with Kane as it began to set, casting darkness upon the rocky village.

Suddenly two figures appeared over the horizon, one the size of a fully grown man, the other a tall, but still slightly shorter than the man, teenager. Coming into the light, Kane and Irileth saw that the taller man was dressed in a brown jacket and jeans with scraggy brown hair and a hard face covered in stubble. The boy with him wore a black jacket over a shirt just as dark, with very dark blue jeans.

"Murlough!" Irileth cried out, pushing Kane forward and walking behind him. "He's back! Look, your brother's back!"

Kane shyly stepped forward to meet his brother, excited to see him, but froze upon looking at the man. He was very messy looking, his hair was unkept and his stubble sharp. He had a hard look in his eyes, and Murlough was staying standing right next to him. "Hi bro..." He nervously greeted.

Murlough didn't answer, just stared coldly back. Kane didn't know what was wrong, but this wasn't how he remembered his brother. Something had changed him while he's been gone, he could already tell. He then looked back at the man, who was still glaring at him. "It's time you joined your brother Kane." The man said. "My name is Damien, and I hereby extend and invitation to join the Outlaws."

Not at all understanding what was going on, Kane mumbled, "I don't...I don't know...what..."

"Do what he says brother." Murlough advised, speaking for the first time since returning to the village. "You don't want to see what happens if you defy him."

Kane looked to his brother in confusion, then back to Damien and asked, "W-what will I be doing?"

"You are a special child, with immense talent and potential, but you are and Outcast because of your dark semblance." Damien answered somewhat cryptically. "As such you swear the Outlaws oath, and help us in our quest to obtain the Kalos Crystal."

Damien looked down at Kane menacingly, right in the eye and warned, "We will get your power, one way or another, so please just cooperate. I'd hate to have to order your dear brother to kill you."

Kane's eyes widened in fear in hearing that, sweat starting to drip down his face. He looked to his brother and saw his cold and emotionless eyes. Would he really kill his younger sibling if Damien ordered him to?

"All right, I'll come." Kane submitted, his voice shaking. "Just don't make him kill me, please!"

Damien didn't let out a smile at even at, he just grunted and turned around, expecting Kane to follow. As Damien left, Murlough loyally followed his heel, and Kane found himself taking steps after them, unaware of how much trouble it would land him in.

Irileth meanwhile, just stared clueless as her friend was taken away for reasons she did not know, and she didn't see his safe return for many years to come.

Years later, Kane had grown into a young teenager of immense skill in battle. It was on the eve of the new year that he found himself putting that skill to a good use, as he saw it at least. His comrades, The Outlaws, were not so convinced.

Dressed in simple black clothing, teenage Kane ran down, the Kalos Crystal in his pocket and his scythes in his hands. He could hear the banging of his pursuers behind him, but he was certain he had done the right thing. Damien wasn't in the right state of mind to wield such power, he might've killed a lot of people with it.

Suddenly a wall was smashed down behind Kane. He looked down the corridor of the underground facility and saw Damien in his brown combat cloak running down towards him furiously. "KANE!" He shouted, louder than any of the grinding machines in the facility. "Give me back what is mine! Give me back the Kalos Crystal, you traitor!" As he ran Damien pulled out his weapons, the flintlock pistols with katanas on the end, like lengthy bayonets. Kane knew he couldn't outrun Damien and in a fair fight couldn't beat him. He had power, but he was only a teenage boy, and his muscle could not outmatch that of a grown man. His only option was to use the Kalos Crystal he had stolen.

As if on cue, the crystal in his pocket started glowing and shooting out purple lightning around Kane's torso. He felt the energy pulsing through him and turned around to face Damien. The two of them clashes blades with a mighty bang of metal on metal, slicing and hacking at each other, one as skilled as the other in raw combat. Kane felt the crystal giving him a boost, and dark clouds shot out of his scythe, like a shadow of the blade and cut into Damien's left shoulder blade.

Damien fell back out of pain as blood spewed from his wound, landing on his arse. Kane took the opportunity to begin running again, sprinting down the metal corridor at top speed. As he ran, Murlough stepped through the whole in the wall and stopped next to Damien, who was still clutching his wound.

"What are waiting for?!" Damien yelled angrily at his loyal soldier. "Get that traitorous bastard! Kill him if you have to, if you get the chance, strike him down!"

Murlough obediently, but reluctantly obeyed, starting after his brother. He whipped out his weapons on the way and slides the bladed stumps over his hands. Kane realised he couldn't outrun this foe either and turned to face him, their weapons locking against each other in a competition of strength. The two pushed against each as they looked upon each other's faces, both raw with anger.

"Why are you doing this Kane?!" Murlough questioned, letting up a little in the push war to let Kane speak. "Why have you betrayed the Outlaws, why have you betrayed me?!"

"Damien gonna start a war!" Kane yelled back, desperate for his brother to see his point of view before it came to the worse. "I don't want to be a part of that! You don't have to be either!"

Snarling furiously, Murlough pushed harder again and replied, "We're fighting for what we've always been fighting for, to destroy the section of the government that have treated us like crap for years! If you have a problem with that, then you're not one of us!" Murlough then shot his cannons, knocking Kane backwards. He rushed forward with his blade, intent on ending his traitorous brothers life.

Kane reacted by throwing his hand forward, letting the blade sink deep into his palm. He then punched Murlough straight in the face as hard he could before he could attack with the other hand, breaking his nose and bloodying his face. Murlough fell to the ground, and Kane stomped his boot onto his chest, winding him and cracking one or two ribs.

Kane than ran again before his older sibling could get his breath back. Murlough rolled over to lay on his stomach, wanting to get a shot at Kane even though it didn't help his breathing. Before he could fire however, he heard a gun go off behind him and looked back to see Damien on the ground, pointing his flintlock pistol at Kane.

Kane slowed down his running when he felt intense pain shoot through his arm. Feeling numb, he looked down and saw that the shot from Damien had severed his arm from the elbow down. He figured Damien must have pumped some of his aura into the shot, just enough for the bullets to cut straight through his arm. He knew that his arm was bleeding profusely, and summoned up black clouds over the wound to stop it, but he couldn't last forever like that. As soon as his aura ran out, he'd start bleeding again.

Starting to run a little faster again, Kane spotted three figures in front moving towards him, blocking his way to the exit. Two of the figures rushed forward, gestured on by the third. As they came closer, Kane recognised his former allies. The first to reach him was Wolf Saturn, the leader of the stealth and infiltration division. Wearing the signature brown cloak of the Outlaw commanders, he sliced at Kane with his weapons, claw like blades attached to his fists.

Kane titled his head and body to dodge past the slashes, then cut at Wolf's side as he past, spilling blood. He may have once been a comrade, but now he was an enemy, and Kane knew he had to fight back.

The second enemy was Isabella Charon, one of the strongest members of the Outlaw army and leader of the main regiment. She charged at Kane with her mighty two blade, holding the handle in the middle with the two blades sticking out of either side. Kane knew she was stronger than he was, perhaps even stronger than Damien, and so began charging up his dark clouds. When she came near, he hit the floor with the clouds and created a massive smokescreen, giving him time to slip past.

The last obstacle between him and the way out was Michael Hydra, the Outlaws lead scientist. He stood still in his white lab coat, hoping Isabella had struck Kane down. When the man in question shot out of the darkness, he opened his mouth to call his allies and alert them of his location, but was quickly silenced by Kane placing a dark cloud covered hand on his chest. Michaels face contorted into a look of pain as the semblance scrambled his internal organs and threw him against the control panel, hitting the open door button. The metal door slid open, and Kane ran out of the side of the mountain in which the base was situated in, and fled with Damien yelling curses behind him.

Hours later, Kane trudged through an acre large field, a small village in the distance. If he could make it there, maybe they would have a doctor. His arm was freely bleeding again, and the only hope he had of surviving without medical help was to find someone to use as a host body for a while until he recovered. Someone he could share a body with...

Then his eyes rested on the child, Connor Hikaru-Kodomo, shaking in front of him.

Ending Music: https/youtu.be/URQJP9UbjdA

[Nisekoi OP 1]

(Shows tiny Grimm bird flying)

Kioku ga hiraku oto! Kikitai kara! (The tiny Grimm bird flies over young Connor's head)

Kimi ni sashidasou!

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS V3

(Shows Connor waking up)

Aa, konna ni mo!

(Connor leaves his room and starts running down the corridor) Taisetsu na omoi mo!

(Connor runs past Mars)

Toki no suna

(Connor runs past Kane)

ga ooikakushite!

(Shows Connor run past Team JNPR as they come out of their room)

Aimai ni shite shimau keredo! (Connor stops at the stairs and runs up them)

Unmei nante kotoba

(Shows Connor running to the top of the stairs)

wa chiipu da nante!

(Shows Connor run down the corridor to the other stairs)

Issho ni warai atteru kimi ga! (Connor jumps down the stairs) Sono hito datarri suru no ka na! (Shows Irileth, Stephane and Nora) Kitto!

(Shows Connor on his back and sitting up)

Minna daji na koto!

(Connor looks behind him)

Sokushi zutzu

(Jim, Yang and Ruby are behind him. Ruby seeing if he is okay) wasurete iku kara!

(Connor smiles back at them and stands up)

Kimi to no omoide wa!

(Connor stands with Jim, Yang and Ruby)

Wazuka dake demo

(Jim walks past Connor and pats his shoulder, and then Connor, Ruby and Yang follow him) takusasete yo!

(Shows the Kalos Crystal)

Sorou hazunai pazura!

(Shows Irileth from behind) Kakusheteta

(Shows Stephane from behind) Saigo no kakera!

(Shows Nora walking)

Kioku ga hiraku oto!

(Shows Ruby and Yang)

Kikitai kara! Kimi ni sashidasou! (Connor pops up)

(Jim appears next to him)

(Shows them walking into Beacon) END


	5. 5- Yang's Sincerity, Stephane's Past

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 5

Yang's Sincerity, Stephane's Past

 **Quick Upload. Enjoy.**

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/zL6lJ3cP6kw

[The Pet Girl of Sakurasou OP 2]

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS V3

(Cherry blossoms fly past the screen)

Harewataru sora wa aoku!

(Shows Connors feet running) Chikazuitekuru

(Shows Connor's while he's running)

ashioto!

(Shows Ruby in a cherry blossom tree)

(Ruby jumps down from the tree) Hikaridashita kaze

(She lands in front of Connor)

Ni osa

(Shows Ruby looking at Connor) Reru

(Shows Connor looking back at her)

you ni hora

(Shows them both looking at each other)

Deatteshimatta!

(Zooms on Connor and shows flashbacks of him)

Sorezore no yume!

(Zooms on Ruby and shows flashbacks of her)

Sorezore no mirai!

(Connor and Ruby turn around and see each other)

Makenai

(They walk towards each other) you ni hashiri!

(Shows Mars)

Kizuitara zutto

(Shows flashbacks of Mars)

issho ni itanda!

(Shows a young Connor smiling behind him)

Dare yori mo!

(Shows Jim and Yang eating together)

Nayande

(Shows Jim carrying Yangs shopping)

ochikande

(Shows Yang yelling at Connor) naite

(Yang gets Connor in a headlock) Waratte!

(Shows all of them at a table celebrating)

Kasokushiteku!

(Shows Kane)

Kimi ni todoke!

(Shows Irileth)

Sora wo kakete!

(Irileth tries to hug Kane but he moves)

Massugu na

(She tries again and he moves again)

omoi

(Stephane runs in between both of them)

gyutto dakishime!

(Shows Connor and Ruby together) Kitto

(Zooms on Connor's face when he smiles)

umaretate

(Ruby smiles back)

no tsuyosa

(Ruby runs over to Connor)

wa mune ni!

(Ruby hugs Connor)

Kono kimochi ga tsubasa

(Connor takes Ruby's hand)

ni nari!

(Connor and Ruby run to the Beacon entrance)

Watashi wa watashi wo tameteyuku!

(Connor and Ruby meet up with everyone else at the Beacon entrance)

END

Kane sat leaning against the edge of the bed with a frown on his face as Irilieth sat on the bed above him, playing with his black hair. While he frowned grumpily, she smiled contently while she messed around with his hair. Connor and Ruby sat across from them, leaning on the other bed in the room with with awkward smiles on their faces. Jim had been taken by Yang to fix his mechanical arm, and that was expected to take a while, so Connor and Ruby had to sit out the awkwardness alone.

In an attempt to break the silence, Connor asked Irileth, "So...you're an old friend of Kane's huh? I didn't think he had any friends before me."

Irileth's hands came to a standstill, still holding onto Kane's hair, as she looked at Connor confusedly and replied, "Why not?" Then grinned at Kane and returned to messing with his hair. "He's grown up to be so handsome!"

Hearing that, Kane sharply leaned to head back to look up at Irileth and snapped, "No! I'm not handsome! I'm scary, terrifyingly! I strike fear into the hearts of my-"

Irileth then interrupted his monologue by tapping him on the head and muttering, "Idiot." Then ,continuing to mess with his hair, said, "I knew you'd grow up like that, trying to impress your brother when you were young..."

On the opposite side of the room, Ruby and Connor still smiled awkwardly, looking for a way out of the situation. They knew that Irileth wouldn't mind whether they were here or not, she only really wanted to talk to Kane. Looking away from Kane's head for a minute, Irileth noticed Connor and Ruby holding hands and questioned, "So are you two together then?"

Surprised by the sudden question, Ruby and Connor both blushed looked down at the floor, then Ruby answered, "Well...yeah...we are...together..."

"Kinda yeah..." Connor followed up shyly, wondering if he should tell Irileth about he and Ruby's engagement.

That thought was blown out of his mind however, when Irileth snapped down at Kane, "Why don't you have a cute girlfriend like that huh, Mr. Scary Pants?!"

Kane bent his head back to look at Irileth again and yelled back, "What makes you think I want a girlfriend!? Also cut it out with the nicknames, I don't like it!"

"Idiot..."

Elsewhere, in the workshop, Yang was busy fixing Jim's arm. Jim sat there with a putrid look on his face, still fuming about his run in with Stephane, while Yang fixed a screw into place. So far she'd managed to reattach the upper portion of the arm, up to just before the elbow, but there were pieces of the interior scattered across the floor and table. At that moment she had decided to concentrate on his shoulder joint into place to ensure the arm didn't fall off.

"So I take it you know that Stephane guy?" Yang asked, before pushing a screw tightly into place and locking it in. She wiped her forehead with a dirty cloth, starting to get very hot.

"I went to school with him before coming here." Jim reluctantly admitted, putting his elbow on the table and resting his chin on his hand. "He's a discriminative little asshole though."

"Yeah, I gathered that too." Yang replied, pushing a steel plate into place and starting work on another screw. "He give you a lot of trouble?"

"Nothing I couldn't handle." Jim stubbornly answered.

"That didn't seem like the case when you tried to punch him." Yang teased, knowing full well it would probably warrant a reaction from Jim, but she was surprised when he didn't react at all. "Hey, are you ok?" She checked. "I was only joking around."

"Sorry I ruined your night." Jim apologised, taking Yang off guard. Looking down, she saw that her yellow dress was splattered oil, dirt, and other types of grime.

"No problem. I...like taking care of you." Yang responded sincerely, letting out a small but sweet smile. Jim looked over his shoulder and smiled back, then seemed a little happier. "So why does he hate the Faunas so much?"

Jim sighed and turned his head back around so that Yang could get back to work on his arm while she worked, then answered, "Well first of all, there was an attack in Mythril, where we lived a long time ago. Stephane's family was a military one and so took part in the fighting. One day they asked the Faunus military to assist, but they ran away instead. Ever since then he called them cowards, but that's not the end of it. A couple of years after that, there was a Faunus uprising in our hometown and in the fighting, a lot of his family died."

"Oh...that's...terrible." Yang replied, secretly finding it hard to feel sorry for someone who had been so discriminative towards Jim. "But still...you didn't have anything to do with it did you? So...why does he hate you."

"He's blinded by the deaths of his family members." Jim replied. "He can't see the difference between me and the killers."

After that there was a short silence, as Yang pondered what had been said while she worked on the arm. After only a short time of thinking, she stopped working for a moment and addressed Jim again. "Jim..." She quietly told him. "If he bothers you again...tell me."

"Why?" Jim responded curiously, turning around and looking at Yang again as he spoke. "I told you I can deal with it, why do care so much what-" Jim's words then froze in his mouth. When he turned his head, Yang's was extremely close to his and she had a look in her eyes he had never seen before, a look of sincerity. "Uh...Yang?" Jim nervously stuttered as Yang continued to stare at him whilst being close to his face. "What...?" His words then then left him again as Yang began to lean forward and move her face towards his. Before he knew what was happening Yang's face was coming closer to his and he had no idea what to do. Despite being a constant flirt, he had never actually gotten to this point before and was terrified.

Then the door suddenly slid open, and in walked Connor, Ruby, Kane and Irileth. Kane's hair was an absolute mess, more so than usual, after having been toyed with by Irileth, who was humming happily in the back. Connor and Ruby were the first to enter and Connor the scene before them, and their jaws dropped open in a classical display of shock. Noticing their presence, Yang stopped herself from blushing by some miracle and immediately punched Connor straight in the face, sending him flying out of the doorway.

"I just wanted to see if Jim was alright..." Connor muttered, as her lay on the floor rubbing his nose and wondering what the two of them had been up to before he had entered.

Ending Music: https/youtu.be/URQJP9UbjdA

[Nisekoi OP 1]

(Shows tiny Grimm bird flying)

Kioku ga hiraku oto! Kikitai kara! (The tiny Grimm bird flies over young Connor's head)

Kimi ni sashidasou!

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS V3

(Shows Connor waking up)

Aa, konna ni mo!

(Connor leaves his room and starts running down the corridor) Taisetsu na omoi mo!

(Connor runs past Mars)

Toki no suna

(Connor runs past Kane)

ga ooikakushite!

(Shows Connor run past Team JNPR as they come out of their room)

Aimai ni shite shimau keredo! (Connor stops at the stairs and runs up them)

Unmei nante kotoba

(Shows Connor running to the top of the stairs)

wa chiipu da nante!

(Shows Connor run down the corridor to the other stairs)

Issho ni warai atteru kimi ga! (Connor jumps down the stairs) Sono hito datarri suru no ka na! (Shows Irileth, Stephane and Nora) Kitto!

(Shows Connor on his back and sitting up)

Minna daji na koto!

(Connor looks behind him)

Sokushi zutzu

(Jim, Yang and Ruby are behind him. Ruby seeing if he is okay) wasurete iku kara!

(Connor smiles back at them and stands up)

Kimi to no omoide wa!

(Connor stands with Jim, Yang and Ruby)

Wazuka dake demo

(Jim walks past Connor and pats his shoulder, and then Connor, Ruby and Yang follow him) takusasete yo!

(Shows the Kalos Crystal)

Sorou hazunai pazura!

(Shows Irileth from behind) Kakusheteta

(Shows Stephane from behind) Saigo no kakera!

(Shows Nora walking)

Kioku ga hiraku oto!

(Shows Ruby and Yang)

Kikitai kara! Kimi ni sashidasou! (Connor pops up)

(Jim appears next to him)

(Shows them walking into Beacon) END


	6. Chapter 6- Stephane Sees Sense

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 6

Stephane Sees Sense

 **Agh, been busy! Here's a short chapter and I'll upload another later.**

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/zL6lJ3cP6kw

[The Pet Girl of Sakurasou OP 2]

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS V3

(Cherry blossoms fly past the screen)

Harewataru sora wa aoku!

(Shows Connors feet running) Chikazuitekuru

(Shows Connor's while he's running)

ashioto!

(Shows Ruby in a cherry blossom tree)

(Ruby jumps down from the tree) Hikaridashita kaze

(She lands in front of Connor)

Ni osa

(Shows Ruby looking at Connor) Reru

(Shows Connor looking back at her)

you ni hora

(Shows them both looking at each other)

Deatteshimatta!

(Zooms on Connor and shows flashbacks of him)

Sorezore no yume!

(Zooms on Ruby and shows flashbacks of her)

Sorezore no mirai!

(Connor and Ruby turn around and see each other)

Makenai

(They walk towards each other) you ni hashiri!

(Shows Mars)

Kizuitara zutto

(Shows flashbacks of Mars)

issho ni itanda!

(Shows a young Connor smiling behind him)

Dare yori mo!

(Shows Jim and Yang eating together)

Nayande

(Shows Jim carrying Yangs shopping)

ochikande

(Shows Yang yelling at Connor) naite

(Yang gets Connor in a headlock) Waratte!

(Shows all of them at a table celebrating)

Kasokushiteku!

(Shows Kane)

Kimi ni todoke!

(Shows Irileth)

Sora wo kakete!

(Irileth tries to hug Kane but he moves)

Massugu na

(She tries again and he moves again)

omoi

(Stephane runs in between both of them)

gyutto dakishime!

(Shows Connor and Ruby together) Kitto

(Zooms on Connor's face when he smiles)

umaretate

(Ruby smiles back)

no tsuyosa

(Ruby runs over to Connor)

wa mune ni!

(Ruby hugs Connor)

Kono kimochi ga tsubasa

(Connor takes Ruby's hand)

ni nari!

(Connor and Ruby run to the Beacon entrance)

Watashi wa watashi wo tameteyuku!

(Connor and Ruby meet up with everyone else at the Beacon entrance)

END

An hour after Connor's unfortunate meeting with Yang, which resulted in him receiving a direct blow to the face, the main group had met in the lunch hall and were currently waiting for Yang to arrive before they started eating. Connor and Ruby sat beside each other as always, Jim on Connor's other side and Irileth and Kane opposite them. Irileth was gleaming happily, seeming glad to be with Kane as the others had previously observed. Kane on the other hand, looked quite grumpy, as Irileth was chummily clinging to his arm.

"So Kane..." Connor said across the table, deciding to take the opportunity to tease his teammate. "You say Irileth is an old friend, but her behaviour towards you would suggest otherwise, don't you think?"

Kane didn't respond, he just continued looking grumpy, perhaps even a little angry at Connor for bringing that up. After a few seconds of tense silence, Connor pressed him again, "Kane?" He said.

"Shut up." Kane replied without moving an inch, not that he could with Irileth clinging to him.

"Ooh, I'm so scared!" Connor continued to tease, seeing that for the first time ever, he had a really good opportunity to tease Kane. "Why don't you come over here and say that?"

Kane would've leaped over the table and punched Connor in the face to shut him up, if it were not for Irileth tightly holding him back. No matter how hard he struggled her grip was too strong for him to escape from.

Meanwhile Jim fiddled with the hanging wires sticking out of his half repaired arm, which Yang had abandoned in her embarrassment. He still didn't quite understand what had happened between him and Yang, or what had brought it on, but he couldn't stop replaying it in his head.

"Jim!"

Jim snapped out of his thoughts and turned to see everyone looking at him. They must have been calling his name for a while. "Sorry, I was daydreaming, what's up?" He said.

"I was just wondering what you're going to do about your arm." Connor told him, confused by his unfocused state. "Wasn't Yang fixing it before she went off?"

Jim's mind then flashed back to that moment yet again, and he unintentionally blushed, confusing Connor even more. He turned his head to face Ruby and held a hand over one side of his mouth and then asked, "You have any idea what's going on with him? He's acting weird."

Ruby smiled and giggled a little, knowing exactly what Jim was feeling. It was exactly how she had felt in that first year that she knew Connor. "It's similar to what you were like when we first started hanging out together, I think." She responded.

This answer confused Connor even more. He pulled a face and mumbled, "What does that mean? I don't get it." Ruby couldn't help herself from laughing at, which had the result of confusing Connor even more, if that was possible. "W-what's so funny?!"

Meanwhile Jim looked away from the two stared off into space, thinking about the event yet again, playing it back in his mind, trying to find a reason behind it. "Yang..." He muttered to himself, not realising he was saying it out loud.

"Yang?" Kane repeated, no one else hearing him, all them busy. "Eww." He then snorted, as Irileth examined the black cloth of his sleeve.

"Kane!" She suddenly exclaimed, as if she had just had a wonderful idea. "I'm gonna sew you a decoration on this sleeve! A little purple bird, what do you think?!"

Kane frowned, dreading the moment he would have see the monstrous addition to his cloak, but knowing he wouldn't be able to convince his childhood friend to stop. "Someone kill me..." He muttered under his breath as Irileth tugged on his cloak, trying to pull him away to start the sowing.

Meanwhile Stephane strolled down the main corridor of the dorms building, having changed into his normal attire. He now wore a lose cotton shirt with jeans and light metal armour covered his knees and lower arms. At that moment he wasn't sure what he was going to do on that day, he didn't have anyone he could hang out with. He thought about walking into the hall and letting himself be surrounded by a gaggle of cooing girls, or going to the training rooms and challenging someone to a sparring match. All that was blown out of his mind however, when he spotted Yang storming down the corridor in the opposite direction and recognised her as the girl Jim had gone to the dance with. He set his mind on fighting her, she looked quite feisty.

"Hey there blonde!" Stephane said to her as she drew closer. "How about we get to know each other on the battlefield?"

Before he could react fast enough to charge up his aura, Yang grabbed Stephane by the collar of his shirt and pushed him back against the wall, then raised her fist and tried to punch him. Stephane quickly held up a hand and stopped her by grabbing her fist however, his hand glowing with a pale blue aura. "You like my semblance?" He asked boastingly. "It's an aura shield, keeps me out of harms-"

Not giving him time to finish his sentence, Yang lifted Stephane up over her shoulder and threw him against the other wall. Even thought his aura shield protected him from wounds, he decided it would be best not to stand back up and start a fight in the corridor, even thought he suspected that was what she wanted.

Yang stood in front of him, looking down as he sat and leaned against the wall not daring to rise. "Listen up asshole!" She ordered, proclaiming her superiority to get his attention. "I'm not happy with how you're treating Jim, and I'm not content with the reasoning behind it, so cut it out!"

Feeling confident he could stand up knowing that he could avoid a fight in a hallway, Stephane rose to his feet and mockingly replied, "Why do you care? Is he your boyfriend?" He then jerked his head to the side and felt his body flinch as Yang slammed her fist into the wall where his head had been just a spilt second before. As she pulled her fist away, Stephane relaxed and wryly commented, "Alright...thin ice, huh?"

"You hate Jim because the Faunus betrayed your family on multiple occasions right?" Yang questioned, ignoring his mocking tone. "Jim wasn't a part of it though, so why group him in with the others that hurt you?"

Stephane grunted stubbornly, then answered, "Jim didn't do anything to stop them when my household was attacked, he ran away like a coward, like the rest of them did."

"That's a stupid reason!" Yang argued, "You must have both been like, eight years old! What could he have done?!"

"For your information, I was nine!" Stephane retorted, raising his voice a little to Yang, making her clench her fists by her side. Stephane saw the danger rising and calmed down, leaning against the wall casually. "What does it matter anyway? It's not something that'll just go away. We'll hate each even if we never see each other."

"Which is exactly why you're gonna apologise to him." Yang ordered.

"What?!" Stephane exclaimed. "Like hell I am! Who do you think you are, ordering me-"

Stephane stopped mid sentence when he noticed that Yang was glaring at him with red eyes, meaning her semblance had activated. Even his aura shield had its limits, and he had a feeling she'd beat the crap of it."Listen to me!" Yang fiercely commanded. "You better make up with Jim and stop harassing him or I'll break every bone in your body! Understood?"

Stephane swallowed the lump in his throat, genuinely a little nervous, much to his own surprise. He even found himself nodding, agreeing with her request. Satisfied that she'd gotten the message through, Yang then started walking down the corridor again. As she neared the stairs, Stephane shouted down at her, "I can tell you care about him quite a bit, so I'll think on it." Then as he left down the opposite end of the corridor, Yang hid her slight blush and ran down the stairs.

Ending Music: https/youtu.be/URQJP9UbjdA

[Nisekoi OP 1]

(Shows tiny Grimm bird flying)

Kioku ga hiraku oto! Kikitai kara! (The tiny Grimm bird flies over young Connor's head)

Kimi ni sashidasou!

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS V3

(Shows Connor waking up)

Aa, konna ni mo!

(Connor leaves his room and starts running down the corridor) Taisetsu na omoi mo!

(Connor runs past Mars)

Toki no suna

(Connor runs past Kane)

ga ooikakushite!

(Shows Connor run past Team JNPR as they come out of their room)

Aimai ni shite shimau keredo! (Connor stops at the stairs and runs up them)

Unmei nante kotoba

(Shows Connor running to the top of the stairs)

wa chiipu da nante!

(Shows Connor run down the corridor to the other stairs)

Issho ni warai atteru kimi ga! (Connor jumps down the stairs) Sono hito datarri suru no ka na! (Shows Irileth, Stephane and Nora) Kitto!

(Shows Connor on his back and sitting up)

Minna daji na koto!

(Connor looks behind him)

Sokushi zutzu

(Jim, Yang and Ruby are behind him. Ruby seeing if he is okay) wasurete iku kara!

(Connor smiles back at them and stands up)

Kimi to no omoide wa!

(Connor stands with Jim, Yang and Ruby)

Wazuka dake demo

(Jim walks past Connor and pats his shoulder, and then Connor, Ruby and Yang follow him) takusasete yo!

(Shows the Kalos Crystal)

Sorou hazunai pazura!

(Shows Irileth from behind) Kakusheteta

(Shows Stephane from behind) Saigo no kakera!

(Shows Nora walking)

Kioku ga hiraku oto!

(Shows Ruby and Yang)

Kikitai kara! Kimi ni sashidasou! (Connor pops up)

(Jim appears next to him)

(Shows them walking into Beacon) END


	7. Chapter 7- Connor's Burden

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 7

Connor's Burden

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/zL6lJ3cP6kw

[The Pet Girl of Sakurasou OP 2]

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS V3

(Cherry blossoms fly past the screen)

Harewataru sora wa aoku!

(Shows Connors feet running) Chikazuitekuru

(Shows Connor's while he's running)

ashioto!

(Shows Ruby in a cherry blossom tree)

(Ruby jumps down from the tree) Hikaridashita kaze

(She lands in front of Connor)

Ni osa

(Shows Ruby looking at Connor) Reru

(Shows Connor looking back at her)

you ni hora

(Shows them both looking at each other)

Deatteshimatta!

(Zooms on Connor and shows flashbacks of him)

Sorezore no yume!

(Zooms on Ruby and shows flashbacks of her)

Sorezore no mirai!

(Connor and Ruby turn around and see each other)

Makenai

(They walk towards each other) you ni hashiri!

(Shows Mars)

Kizuitara zutto

(Shows flashbacks of Mars)

issho ni itanda!

(Shows a young Connor smiling behind him)

Dare yori mo!

(Shows Jim and Yang eating together)

Nayande

(Shows Jim carrying Yangs shopping)

ochikande

(Shows Yang yelling at Connor) naite

(Yang gets Connor in a headlock) Waratte!

(Shows all of them at a table celebrating)

Kasokushiteku!

(Shows Kane)

Kimi ni todoke!

(Shows Irileth)

Sora wo kakete!

(Irileth tries to hug Kane but he moves)

Massugu na

(She tries again and he moves again)

omoi

(Stephane runs in between both of them)

gyutto dakishime!

(Shows Connor and Ruby together) Kitto

(Zooms on Connor's face when he smiles)

umaretate

(Ruby smiles back)

no tsuyosa

(Ruby runs over to Connor)

wa mune ni!

(Ruby hugs Connor)

Kono kimochi ga tsubasa

(Connor takes Ruby's hand)

ni nari!

(Connor and Ruby run to the Beacon entrance)

Watashi wa watashi wo tameteyuku!

(Connor and Ruby meet up with everyone else at the Beacon entrance)

END

The next day Connor, Ruby, Jim and Yang gathered in the lunch hall again. Kane had been dragged off by Irileth, who was wanting to sow something into his cloak, and they hadn't seen Mars since the party. Ruby had her head in a weapons magazine and was cooing excitedly at all the new models whilst Connor watched her with a smile on his face. Yang was busy putting together the last parts of Jim's mechanical arm, fixing the last screws of his finger joints into place. When she was content with her work, she pocketed the screwdriver and then reached down to her side, pulling a yellow spray can out of her bag. She pointed it at Jim's robotic hand and sprayed yellow paint on the back of it, drawing the same yellow fire symbol she had decorating her weapons and clothing.

"Hey!" Jim exclaimed as he noticed what Yang had done. "Why'd you do that?"

"I figured since I practically built it I should put my symbol on it." Yang responded, whilst placing her spray can back in her bag. "You got a problem with that? I think it looks cool."

"I guess not..." Jim muttered quietly, looking away from Yang and staring off into space.

"Well it's all fixed up now, so be careful with it." Yang instructed. "I'll be annoyed if you break it again."

"Yeah, ok..." Jim said, not really paying attention to what Yang was saying. Ironically he was too busy thinking about what had happened between him and her in the workshop.

"Hey! Are you listening?!" Yang yelled, pinching Jim's ear until she got his attention.

Connor looked over to the two of them briefly, annoyed by the ruckus they were making. He wanted some quiet time to hang out with Ruby, something that he hadn't been able to do very much since returning to Beacon. Sighing at the sight of Jim and Yang beginning to argue and knowing they would only get louder, Connor turned back to Ruby and asked her, "You wanna go hang out somewhere quieter?"

Ruby looked up from her weapons magazine with an innocent look on her face, her hair flopping with the sudden head movement. Connor found himself perplexed by her cuteness as he had been on multiple occasions before. He could have sat there and admired her for hours, if Yang and Jim weren't going at each next to him. "Umm...sure! Back to your room?" Ruby replied, not too concerned where they hung out as long as they could spend some time together.

"Sounds good." Connor agreed, standing up and holding hands with Ruby. The two of them then walked out of hall, while Yang pinned down Jim on the floor with her eyes blazing red.

"Yang, please let me go!"

"Shut up!"

When the two of them arrived back in Team KALOS's room, Ruby immediately sat down on Connor's bed, smiling brightly as always as she stuck her head back into her magazine. Connor walked to the back of the room where the mirror was and stared at his reflection in the clear glass. He felt a strange urge flow through him, an urge to take of his eyepatch. He usually didn't let anyone see the scarred skin underneath, even Ruby rarely sighted it. He suddenly wanted to remove his patch however, let Ruby see the damaged eye, let her know he was comfortable for her to see it. He hesitantly moved his hand up to the eyepatch, but stopped just before he reached it, a little nervous. He'd never looked at himself in the mirror with his eyepatch off before. He had a pretty good idea of what it probably looked like, but he had never seen it for himself.

As he hesitated, Ruby looked up from her magazine and saw him reaching for the eyepatch, but his hand was frozen in the middle in the motion. She dropped her magazine on the bed and rushed over to Connor's side, looking in the mirror with him. "You don't have to take it off." She told him. "You can wear it all day if you want to."

Connor considered leaving it on for a minute, if Ruby didn't mind, then where was the harm? He then remembered why he had wanted to take it off in the first place; so that he could get used to not wearing it all the time. He raised his hand up again, grabbing the fabric of the eyepatch, and slowly pulled it off. He and Ruby looked in the mirror at the skin covered socket where his right eye had once been for a moment, Connor rubbing the skin around it with one hand, looking gloomy.

"If I hadn't been captured, you'd still have your eye." Ruby muttered solemnly.

Hearing that, Connor spun round to face Ruby and put his hands on her shoulders, then looked right into her eyes and told her, "I promised to protect you didn't I? My wounds are nothing...because I was still able to save you. Don't you ever think that if take my good health over yours, I'd take a thousand more scars for you."

"Connor..." Ruby replied as she stared back into his eyes, the the two of them both leaned forward and exchanged a loving kiss.

It was at that moment that the door swung open and Mars stared into the room, seeing Ruby and Connor embracing each other, and walked into the room carrying a big box full of books and dryly commented, "Get a room."

Letting go of Ruby and rushing to pick up his eyepatch and put it back over his skinned over right eye socket, Connor replied to his old mentor, "We are in a room."

Mars yawned loudly as he put the box of books down on his bed, and then turned around and replied, "Whatever, I need to speak to you privately."

"You can't say whatever it is in front of Ruby?" Connor asked.

"No, this has to be between you and me." Mars responded.

Connor faced Ruby and asked her, "You okay to wait for me outside the classroom?" Ruby nodded and said she'd wait there, then gave him a peck on the cheek and left the room, allowing Mars to speak to Connor.

"So what do you want old man?" Connor teased as soon as the door closed, eager to hear what Mars couldn't say in front of Ruby.

"Hey! Don't call me an old man, you juvenile!" Mars retorted. "I'm barely 45 years old!"

"You're 47." Connor corrected.

"Whatever!" Mars snorted back. "Let's just get down to why I'm here!"

"About time." Connor wryly commented, sitting down on his bed as Mars took a seat on his own.

"Right...well...I know you haven't told Yang about your engagement to her sister." Mars began.

Connor started to look troubled. He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and replied, "What's your point?"

"You're going to have to tell her eventually, she might not let you marry Ruby but if you keep it a secret until she finds out, then she definitely won't." Mars advised.

"Well..." Connor replied, then sighed and said, "I guess I will have to suck up and tell her at some point...even if she does pummel me for it."

"That's the spirit!" Mars exclaimed, standing up and grinning at his student. "Even if she does break your ribs for it, you've gotta tell her!"

"Inspiring." Connor commented sarcastically, standing up from his bed. "Hey...why couldn't we talk about this with Ruby?"

Mars then grinned sheepishly and ran a Han through his green dyed hair and answered, "Well I I know I am incredibly handsome but you should know I'm not all that good with woman."

"Handsome? My ass you are, old man!" Connor retorted. "Besides, Ruby's thirty years younger than you and she's engaged to me!"

"Age makes no difference, love could blossom between any two candidates!" Mars teasingly countered.

"Love?!"

In an instant Connor was pushing Mars out of the room by his back, fuming at his horrid joke. When he reached the door and Connor opened it for him, Mars went serious and sternly told Connor, "Listen, I know I joke and tease you a lot, that's only natural as your my student, but remember that if you need any kind of help, I'm here."

"Sure..."

Ending Music: https/youtu.be/URQJP9UbjdA

[Nisekoi OP 1]

(Shows tiny Grimm bird flying)

Kioku ga hiraku oto! Kikitai kara! (The tiny Grimm bird flies over young Connor's head)

Kimi ni sashidasou!

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS V3

(Shows Connor waking up)

Aa, konna ni mo!

(Connor leaves his room and starts running down the corridor) Taisetsu na omoi mo!

(Connor runs past Mars)

Toki no suna

(Connor runs past Kane)

ga ooikakushite!

(Shows Connor run past Team JNPR as they come out of their room)

Aimai ni shite shimau keredo! (Connor stops at the stairs and runs up them)

Unmei nante kotoba

(Shows Connor running to the top of the stairs)

wa chiipu da nante!

(Shows Connor run down the corridor to the other stairs)

Issho ni warai atteru kimi ga! (Connor jumps down the stairs) Sono hito datarri suru no ka na! (Shows Irileth, Stephane and Nora) Kitto!

(Shows Connor on his back and sitting up)

Minna daji na koto!

(Connor looks behind him)

Sokushi zutzu

(Jim, Yang and Ruby are behind him. Ruby seeing if he is okay) wasurete iku kara!

(Connor smiles back at them and stands up)

Kimi to no omoide wa!

(Connor stands with Jim, Yang and Ruby)

Wazuka dake demo

(Jim walks past Connor and pats his shoulder, and then Connor, Ruby and Yang follow him) takusasete yo!

(Shows the Kalos Crystal)

Sorou hazunai pazura!

(Shows Irileth from behind) Kakusheteta

(Shows Stephane from behind) Saigo no kakera!

(Shows Nora walking)

Kioku ga hiraku oto!

(Shows Ruby and Yang)

Kikitai kara! Kimi ni sashidasou! (Connor pops up)

(Jim appears next to him)

(Shows them walking into Beacon) END


	8. Chapter 8- The Party

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 8

The Party

 **I unfortunately haven't been able to upload more than one chapter a day recently, because Christmas is such a busy time of year, but hey ho, I'll get them all up eventually. This chapter is the last slice of life type one before things in this volume start to get more action packed. Enjoy!**

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/zL6lJ3cP6kw

[The Pet Girl of Sakurasou OP 2]

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS V3

(Cherry blossoms fly past the screen)

Harewataru sora wa aoku!

(Shows Connors feet running) Chikazuitekuru

(Shows Connor's while he's running)

ashioto!

(Shows Ruby in a cherry blossom tree)

(Ruby jumps down from the tree) Hikaridashita kaze

(She lands in front of Connor)

Ni osa

(Shows Ruby looking at Connor) Reru

(Shows Connor looking back at her)

you ni hora

(Shows them both looking at each other)

Deatteshimatta!

(Zooms on Connor and shows flashbacks of him)

Sorezore no yume!

(Zooms on Ruby and shows flashbacks of her)

Sorezore no mirai!

(Connor and Ruby turn around and see each other)

Makenai

(They walk towards each other) you ni hashiri!

(Shows Mars)

Kizuitara zutto

(Shows flashbacks of Mars)

issho ni itanda!

(Shows a young Connor smiling behind him)

Dare yori mo!

(Shows Jim and Yang eating together)

Nayande

(Shows Jim carrying Yangs shopping)

ochikande

(Shows Yang yelling at Connor) naite

(Yang gets Connor in a headlock) Waratte!

(Shows all of them at a table celebrating)

Kasokushiteku!

(Shows Kane)

Kimi ni todoke!

(Shows Irileth)

Sora wo kakete!

(Irileth tries to hug Kane but he moves)

Massugu na

(She tries again and he moves again)

omoi

(Stephane runs in between both of them)

gyutto dakishime!

(Shows Connor and Ruby together) Kitto

(Zooms on Connor's face when he smiles)

umaretate

(Ruby smiles back)

no tsuyosa

(Ruby runs over to Connor)

wa mune ni!

(Ruby hugs Connor)

Kono kimochi ga tsubasa

(Connor takes Ruby's hand)

ni nari!

(Connor and Ruby run to the Beacon entrance)

Watashi wa watashi wo tameteyuku!

(Connor and Ruby meet up with everyone else at the Beacon entrance)

END

Late at night, Team JNPR were all sat in their room, wasting time until lights out. Ren had his head in a book, doing research for his homework, whilst Pyrhaa sat next to Jaune, helping him with his studies, and Nora was sat on the windowsill in her pyjamas staring at the night sky. After yawning loudly, Nora complained, "When will Connor come and visit us?! We haven't seen him since he got back to Beacon! I miss him!"

"I'm sure he's just busy, he technically hasn't finished his mission yet." Ren calmly replied, flicking to the next page of his book. "Please try and calm down Nora."

"I can't!" Nora groaned back. "He should make time for us! We're his friends!"

"Nora, please just calm down and be quiet." Jaune pleaded, having been disturbed from his studies. "I can't hear myself think with all that noise you're making."

Nora looked back and Jaune, frowning, then turned back to the window and pouted. "Stupid Connor..."

"Don't be like that Nora." Pyrhaa lightly scolded, knowing Nora could be a devil when angry, she'd seen it when someone had once insulted Ren. "I'm sure he'll pop in to see us when he's got the time."

Just as Pyrhaa finished her sentence and went back to helping Jaune, the door of their room was roughy swung open, making them all turn their heads to see who was there. The people standing in the doorframe were Ruby and Connor, Ruby holding onto Connor's arm as he waved with one hand and held a bag full of goodies in the other. "Hey guys, long time no see!"

Within a spilt second, Nora had dashed across the room and was clinging to Connor, hugging him tightly like a small child does its parents. "CONNOR!" Nora cried excitedly as Ruby blushed at Nora's advance and Connor dropped the bag he had been holding out of surprise. "I knew you'd come visit us! I was just saying how I knew you'd come!"

The rest of Team JNPR eyed Nora, knowing she'd in fact been calling Connor stupid a few seconds ago. As Nora continued to cling to him, and Ruby began prodding her and asking her to let go, Ren strolled over and pulled Nora off. As the two of them went to sit down again, Nora blew Connor a kiss from the palm of her hand, making Ruby glare at Connor accusingly. Connor awkwardly grinned and Ruby and shook his head, expelling the thoughts building up in her mind.

"It certainly is nice to see you again, it's been a while." Ren stated in his usual polite tone.

With a grin on his face, Connor picked up the plastic bag he had been holding before Nora had barrelled into him, held it out in front of himself and responded, "Yeah it has, hasn't it? Luckily for you guys I've got a bag full of treats as compensation!" He then started rooting through the bag, pulling out items and announcing them one at a time whilst handing them to Ruby. "We've got some cola cans, crisps, popcorn...oh, and for Nora, a special pack of gummy bears since I know you've missed me so-"

Connor didn't finish his sentence however, as he was once again leaped upon by Nora who yelled, "GUMMY BEARS!" As Connor then lay on the ground, Nora sat casually on his back whilst cheerfully devouring every last gummy bear. Connor felt Nora's weight on his back and began to groan, reaching out to Ruby for help, who squatted down to his level to speak to him.

"Need some help there?" She asked almost teasingly, letting out a small giggle as she held all the contents of the bag in her arms. Connor weakly nodded, the strain of having Nora sitting on his back rendering him incapable of coherent speech. Ruby then put the items in her arms on the floor next to her and lightly pinched Nora's cheeks with both hands to grab her attention, then menacingly whispered, "That's my fiancé you're sitting on."

Surprised by Ruby's sudden menacing stare, Nora nervously crawled off of Connor's back and shifted her way across the room back to where Ren was sitting, and then hid herself behind his back. Connor rose carefully, taking in deep breaths now that his lungs weren't being squashed. Ruby smiled innocently at him as he bent over forward, panting heavily. "Let's get this party started shall we?" Still unable to stand up straight until her caught his breath, Connor raised a hand up in the air and weakly cheered.

The so called party, in which all they really did was sit around eating, chatting and drinking, lasted about two and a half hours until everyone was too exhausted to keep it going. By that time it was midnight, and most of them had fallen asleep. Jaune and Pryhaa rested sitting up next to each other on one bed, leading against the wall. Meanwhile, Nora lay snoozing on Ren's lap as he lay back on the bed sleeping just as deeply. Ruby was sat up leaning against the back wall, fast asleep even thought the sound of her music was still playing through her headphones. Connor had his arm around her as she had tilted over his way a little and he felt he should hold her upright to stop her from banging her head on the wooden floor.

While she snoozed, leaning against his shoulder and the wall, Connor couldn't help but stare at Ruby's face. He didn't think he'd ever stop doing that, looking at her lovingly thinking about how cute she was. He didn't want to either.

A flash of bright light then shone through window, followed by a loud bang which made Connor jump. He checked on Ruby, and was surprised to find it hadn't disturbed her sleep. He looked through the window over his shoulder and saw a storm raging, black clouds spitting out lightning at regular intervals, which was always closely followed by thunder. "Bloody lightning..." He muttered to himself as he wrapped his arm tighter around Ruby and pulled her in tight, finally falling asleep himself.

Out in the middle of the Emerald Forest, which lay to the east of Beacon, the storm raged just as hard. The rain plummeted down, crashing into leaves and then spilling onto the ground, creating puddles all across the the grass surface of the woods.

The figure of a man emerged from the trees into a clearing, his boots splashing into the puddles as he aimed for the middle of the clearing. He stopped when he reached it, and looked up at the dark, raging storm in the sky. He wore a brown jacket, which was drenched with rain, and a hood connecting to it which covered his head. In addition to that, he wore a brown cloth over the lower half of his face, effectively hiding his identity.

The figure next reached behind himself, and pulled his weapon out of its holster. He held it up in the air, it's blade pointing at the clouds, the barrel of the flintlock pistol it was connected to fully loaded.

Then he fired.

Ending Music: https/youtu.be/URQJP9UbjdA

[Nisekoi OP 1]

(Shows tiny Grimm bird flying)

Kioku ga hiraku oto! Kikitai kara! (The tiny Grimm bird flies over young Connor's head)

Kimi ni sashidasou!

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS V3

(Shows Connor waking up)

Aa, konna ni mo!

(Connor leaves his room and starts running down the corridor) Taisetsu na omoi mo!

(Connor runs past Mars)

Toki no suna

(Connor runs past Kane)

ga ooikakushite!

(Shows Connor run past Team JNPR as they come out of their room)

Aimai ni shite shimau keredo! (Connor stops at the stairs and runs up them)

Unmei nante kotoba

(Shows Connor running to the top of the stairs)

wa chiipu da nante!

(Shows Connor run down the corridor to the other stairs)

Issho ni warai atteru kimi ga! (Connor jumps down the stairs) Sono hito datarri suru no ka na! (Shows Irileth, Stephane and Nora) Kitto!

(Shows Connor on his back and sitting up)

Minna daji na koto!

(Connor looks behind him)

Sokushi zutzu

(Jim, Yang and Ruby are behind him. Ruby seeing if he is okay) wasurete iku kara!

(Connor smiles back at them and stands up)

Kimi to no omoide wa!

(Connor stands with Jim, Yang and Ruby)

Wazuka dake demo

(Jim walks past Connor and pats his shoulder, and then Connor, Ruby and Yang follow him) takusasete yo!

(Shows the Kalos Crystal)

Sorou hazunai pazura!

(Shows Irileth from behind) Kakusheteta

(Shows Stephane from behind) Saigo no kakera!

(Shows Nora walking)

Kioku ga hiraku oto!

(Shows Ruby and Yang)

Kikitai kara! Kimi ni sashidasou! (Connor pops up)

(Jim appears next to him)

(Shows them walking into Beacon) END


	9. Chapter 9- Challenged

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 9

Challenged

 **Unfortunately Xmas and the months around it have really strapped me for time, but I'm going to try and get back into posting at least one chapter a day. This one has a new anime opening and ending and in the next one we'll finally get into the action of this volume. Enjoy!**

Opening Music: http/youtu.be/qBB-R7lBspc

[Fairy Tail OP 4]

(Shows the runic symbols of the Ancient Remnant Tomes)

(Shows Kane)

(Shows Mars)

(Shows Jim)

(Shows Ruby)

(Shows Connor)

(Shows Team KALOS)

(OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS) (Shows Beacon)

YO HO kaji o kire tori kaji ippai de! YO HO uosao

(Shows Team JNPR inside the Beacon sparring arena cheering) ikina jinsei!

(Shows Team RWBY and Ozpin cheering)

(Shows Team KALOS cheering) (Shows Team KALOS standing on the cliff of Beacon)

Hi ga ochiru

(Zooms in Connor's eye) koro ni wa (Pans over Team KALOS)

shukko no utage!

(Shows Damien on top of a tree, wearing a cloth make over his face) Sabishiku nanka nai iki

(An apparition of Daryl appears behind Damien)

terya mata

(Damien jumps down from the tree and runs towards Beacon)

dokka de aeru!

(Shows Kane pull out his scythes and summon up dark clouds) Mukaikaze buchi nuki

(Shows Jim next to Yang, Yang blushes and looks away)

tabidate!

(Shows Connor and Kane go back to back as Mars' shield surrounds them)

Namida namida kareru made (Shows Mars standing on a telekinetic platform above them) otokonara tsuyogatte!

(Shows Irileth flip in the air and summon up her purple crows) Tomo yo tomo yo

(Stephane takes out all the purple crows with his blade)

itsu no hi ka

(Shows Connor punch at Mars) warette!

(Mars blocks the punch and hits back, sending Connor flying)

Katai katai

(Kane fires a dark cloud arrow at Mars)

kizuna

(Mars dodges back then jumps up) o sa tashikame

(Mars fires balls of green energy at them)

aeru

(Kane fires black clouds from his hands)

yo ni

(Connor jumps over Kane's head and fires light from his hands)

Ima

(Shows Yang)

kagayaki dasu

(Yang activates her semblance and fire appears)

mirai no chizu o sa tsukami tore!

(Shows Ozpin signalling the start of a sparring match)

(Shows Irileth attacking with her whips)

(Shows Jim running with his boomerangs in his hands)

(Shows Damien walking into the Beacon entrance hall)

(Shows Mars go into Mystic State)

(Connor and Kane throw punches at him)

END

The morning after in Team KALOS' room, Jim was sat looking out the window, unexplainably bored. Yang, who had come to visit him to check on his arm, was sitting cross legged on the bed staring at him. She continued to stare at the back of his head in complete silence for a while, then suddenly exclaimed, "Are you just gonna sit there and stare out the window all day?! You let me in and you haven't said a word to me!"

Hearing her cry for attention, Jim looked over his shoulder at Yang, who was pouting in his direction. He then looked back out the window and responded, "Sorry, I'm just bored. Haven't had a good fight in a while."

"You had that little encounter with Stephane." Yang reminded him, stopping her pouting now that she was being spoken to.

"I wouldn't really call that a fight..." Jim countered, sighing at the memory of it. He then swivelled around sharply as he heard Yang laugh out loud. He hadn't heard her laugh like that before, like she'd heard something truly funny. It suited her well.

Once Yang calmed down, Jim turned back around and continued to gaze out of the window onto the courtyard of Beacon. Yang pouted behind him once again, as she was ignored for a second time. Looking at Jim's back, she felt a pang in her chest and an urge to do something she would never have thought of doing before. Standing up, she strolled over to where Jim was sitting as hugged him from behind. Jim sat up straight out of shock and Yang clung to him, pressing her face into his shoulder. He didn't know what had gotten into Yang. First the incident in the workshop, and now this? "Yang?" Jim called out. "Do you want me to move?"

Yang made a unintelligible noise and shook her head, still rubbing her face into his shoulder. Jim gulped, started blushing, and next tried to change the subject. "Umm...how are you dealing with Ruby being with Connor?"

Yang lifted her face from his shoulder and loosened her grip on him, sighing, but kept her arms loosely wrapped around his front. "I...guess I don't have a problem with it." Yang reluctantly answered, "I'm glad Ruby found someone to get really close to I guess..."

Smiling at Yang's attitude, Jim added, "Yeah, and the marriage will only make them closer." He then felt Yangs grip on him tighten slightly and felt the heat of hard breathing on his neck. It took a moment, but he soon realised what he'd said wrong. Yang didn't know about the marriage yet, neither Connor or Ruby had gotten around to telling her, and now he'd spilled the beans.

In a split second timeframe the power of Yang's grip increased tenfold, trapping Jim in a headlock as he struggled to break free. The more he struggled, the more pressure Yang used, and soon he found it hard to breathe. "MARRIAGE?!" Yang bellowed right into poor Jim's ear, her eyes turning red as her semblance kicked in. "WHY WASN'T I TOLD ABOUT THIS?!"

"Sorry!" Jim desperately begged, hoping Yang would let him go before he passed out. Luckily for him, Yang let go of his neck after he apologised. Unfortunately however, she then put her hand on the back of his head and slammed it down onto the surface of the table. He rubbed his bruised face as Yang stormed towards the door. He'd never seen her so angry before, and he's seen her angry plenty of times. Although, it was her sister, so he supposed maybe he shouldn't have been so surprised.

He still jumped out of his seat though, when Yang kicked the door off its hinges and into the door of Team JNPR's room.

The sound woke Connor. He had slept in the position he had been the night before, with Ruby in his arms, all night long and was almost blinded by the sun shining in on his open eyes. Looking around, he saw that Ruby and Team JNPR were already up and eating pancakes, but were also staring at the door in confusion.

Their questions were answered when Yang smashed the door of the room of its hinges, the wooden remains hitting the wall beside Connor, who cowered nervously as he saw Yang fuming in the door frame. At first he wondered what had made her so angry, then he figured it out.

As he did, Yang bellowed at him, "WHEN THE HELL WERE YOU PLANNING TO TELL ME YOU'RE ENGAGED TO MY SISTER?!"

Connor nervously lifted himself to his feet as Yang stomped into the room, her fists clenched at her sides. "Well...y-you s-see Yang..." Connor stuttered as Yang reached him and he put his back against the wall. "W-we, m-me and R-Ruby, knew how you'd react s-so we were t-trying to figure out how t-to t-tell you and-"

Connor then let out an embarrassingly girlish scream as Yang grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up against the wall, glaring at him furiously. Before she could punch Connor in the stomach, Ruby spoke up and defended him. "Yang please let him go!" She pleaded with her sister. "I'm happy, I want to marry him!"

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU WANT RUBY!" Yang argued fiercely. "I AM NOT LETTING YOU MARRY HIM!"

"Why not, Yang?!" Ruby countered. "Why don't you like him?!"

"BECAUSE HE'S...he's..." Yang protested, trying to find an adequate reason other than that she was being overly protective.

"You could always fight him for Ruby's hand." Suggested a voice from behind Yang, who turned around with her hand still gripping Connor's collar to see Mars standing in the open doorway, leaning against the frame casually. "If he wins a sparring match against you, he can marry Ruby, if not you can keep her to yourself."

Yang thought about that proposal for a minute before turning and looking back at Connor, who flinched, expecting her to hit him. Instead to told him, "Tomorrow, in the sparring arena. If you lose you'll never have my sisters hand in marriage." Connor then relaxes slightly, the tension leaving his body. Before Yang let go of him however, she head butted his nose full on. He fell to the ground, landing on his arse and rubbing his bleeding nose as Yang marched out of the room.

"Thanks a lot Mars." Connor sarcastically said to his mentor as Ruby squatted down and wiped the blood from his nostrils. "Now I have to fight the strongest female fighter in Beacon."

"I'd say it's preferable to getting beaten half to death right now." Mars responded coolly. "Besides, you can beat her easily right?"

"What?! No!" Connor exclaimed, "Have you seen her when she's mad?! Her semblance makes her crazy strong!"

"Oh, come on." Mars huffed. "She can't be that strong."

As Connor rubbed the bridge of his nose and stood back up, feeling where it had harshly been broken, he groaned, "After fighting her, a broken nose will be the least of my worries."

End Music: https/youtu.be/QIG4_FLvRb0 [Naruto S ED 33]

Hitori janai yo! Osoreru mono nante nai kara!

(Shows Damien at night)

Ikou

(Damien smiles)

saa aa

(Damien raises his hand) me o akete!

(Rocks float in the air behind him) Butsukatte ita hontou wa

(Shows Damien and Daryl reaching out for each other)

oitsukitakute!

(Damien and Daryl clash swords then Murlough stabs Damien in the back)

Kizu

(Shows Damien's sword in the ground)

tsukeatte

(Shows Damien on many battlefields standing over dead bodies)

tsunagitomeru kizuna hoshikute! (Shows the Outlaws fighting people)

Gomen wasure

(Shows Damien meeting Brook and then meeting Murlough)

naide

(Shows members of the Outlaws dying in front of Damien)

Shinjite

(Shows Damien getting the Kalos Crystal)

mattete

(Shows Kane and then Connor as kids)

Mukae ni

(Shows Damien taking off his jacket and then dropping it)

ikunda!

(Damien goes into a battle pose and is surrounded by soldiers) Yuuki no tomoshibi terashidase yowasa o! Kizu datte itami

(Damien pulls out his flintlock pistols swords and starts fighting the soldiers)

datte wakeaeba

(Damien runs along a cliff edge) heiki da!

(He jumps off the cliff)

Kimi no senaka osu

(Shows Brook sharpening his hooks against each other) musunda yakusoku!

(Shows Murlough and zooms in on his eye)

Itsudatte

(Damien activated the Kalos Crystal)

haretatte!

(Kalos appears behind him sitting on the massive rune wall) Shinjiirareru

(Shows Damien as a kid)

kizuna

(Shows Daryl as a kid)

wa muni ni

(Shows Damien grown up sucking in the purple Kalos Crystal energy) nemutteru!

(Shows his eye go purple)

END


	10. Chapter 10- Connor VS Yang

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 10

Connor VS Yang

 **In in the interest of keeping my promise of one chapter a day, here's the start of my favourite fight in the volume.**

Opening Music: http/youtu.be/qBB-R7lBspc

(Shows the runic symbols of the Ancient Remnant Tomes)

(Shows Kane)

(Shows Mars)

(Shows Jim)

(Shows Ruby)

(Shows Connor)

(Shows Team KALOS)

(OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS) (Shows Beacon)

YO HO kaji o kire tori kaji ippai de! YO HO uosao

(Shows Team JNPR inside the Beacon sparring arena cheering) ikina jinsei!

(Shows Team RWBY and Ozpin cheering)

(Shows Team KALOS cheering) (Shows Team KALOS standing on the cliff of Beacon)

Hi ga ochiru

(Zooms in Connor's eye) koro ni wa (Pans over Team KALOS)

shukko no utage!

(Shows Damien on top of a tree, wearing a cloth make over his face) Sabishiku nanka nai iki

(An apparition of Daryl appears behind Damien)

terya mata

(Damien jumps down from the tree and runs towards Beacon)

dokka de aeru!

(Shows Kane pull out his scythes and summon up dark clouds) Mukaikaze buchi nuki

(Shows Jim next to Yang, Yang blushes and looks away)

tabidate!

(Shows Connor and Kane go back to back as Mars' shield surrounds them)

Namida namida kareru made (Shows Mars standing on a telekinetic platform above them) otokonara tsuyogatte!

(Shows Irileth flip in the air and summon up her purple crows) Tomo yo tomo yo

(Stephane takes out all the purple crows with his blade)

itsu no hi ka

(Shows Connor punch at Mars) warette!

(Mars blocks the punch and hits back, sending Connor flying)

Katai katai

(Kane fires a dark cloud arrow at Mars)

kizuna

(Mars dodges back then jumps up) o sa tashikame

(Mars fires balls of green energy at them)

aeru

(Kane fires black clouds from his hands)

yo ni

(Connor jumps over Kane's head and fires light from his hands)

Ima

(Shows Yang)

kagayaki dasu

(Yang activates her semblance and fire appears)

mirai no chizu o sa tsukami tore!

(Shows Ozpin signalling the start of a sparring match)

(Shows Irileth attacking with her whips)

(Shows Jim running with his boomerangs in his hands)

(Shows Damien walking into the Beacon entrance hall)

(Shows Mars go into Mystic State)

(Connor and Kane throw punches at him)

END

The next day, students gathered in the sparring arena in mass. The news of Yang and Connor's fight spread quickly throughout Beacon and brought a large crowd. Connor stood in the middle of the combat zone with Jim and Ruby, awaiting Yang's arrival.

While they waited, Jim noticed Connor sweating slightly and asked him, "You nervous?"

"She's gonna kick my arse." Connor replied solemnly, regretting agreeing to the fight.

Jim didn't have a response to that. He knew that Yang was very strong and probably would do just that, but he wanted to give Connor some confidence. It was hard to think of anything to inspire him though.

They both then looked in the direction of the stairs as they heard someone plodding down them, thinking it might be Yang. Instead they saw Kane and Irileth on the steps, having stopped just before the entering the arena. Irileth had her trademark chummy smile, whilst Kane looked grumpy. Connor noticed something on the sleeve of Kane's black cloak, and snickered when he figured out what it was.

"It's not funny!" Kane snapped in annoyance as Connor tried to hide his laughter. After Jim started snickering like a child, Kane put a hand over the thing on his sleeve and hid it from view, Irileth frowning as he did so.

Taking a break from his childish laughter, Connor said, "I didn't know you liked little purple birds, Kane!" He then burst out laughing again along with Jim, Kane groaning and frowning in embarrassment.

"It's actually a crow and I made it for him!" Irileth exclaimed, annoyed that Jim and Connor were laughing at her handiwork.

"Well I think it's cute." Ruby pitched in, giving Irileth and Kane a sincere smile. "Connor, you should get something like that on your cloak!"

"Huh?" Connor responded, surprised that Ruby liked that sort of thing, but not wanting to upset her. "I don't know..."

"You could get a little star on your sleeve or something!" Ruby cheerfully suggested.

"Oh, I could do that for him!" Irileth offered. "A little yellow star shape thing..."

"He could have one on each sleeve too!" Ruby added.

While the two girls continued to chatter on, Jim, Kane and Connor were paying their attention to someone else. Someone in brown and yellow clothing, blonde haired, and unimaginably furious. Connor stared back at his opponent, nervous but trying to show a brave face.

"You ready?" Yang sternly asked him, and he nodded wordlessly in reply. She then walked into the centre of arena as Jim lead Ruby into the stands. The two opponents then stood at opposite ends of the small arena, facing each other off.

"Before we start, a few rules." A voice from the top of the stands announced. Everyone then looked up to see Ozpin sat in a seat at the very top of seating area, alone in the top row. As always, he had a warm cup of coffee in his hands, but he had a very serious look on his face. "First of all, this sparring arena is fitted with an aura shielding system which amplifies your auras power to protect you from wounds. It will allow you to fight each other without risk of serious harm. Next, this match will be hand to hand and semblance combat only. No blades or other weapons."

Connor stared up at Ozpin wonderingly for the duration of his speech. Why was the old man overseeing this match? He wouldn't usually come down to see random sparring matches take place. Also, why was he enforcing so many abnormal rules?

"Also, take note that the aura shielding won't protect you from everything. If I feel like one of you is too injured to continue, I'll stop the match." Ozpin continued, Yang and Connor listening closely to the rules. "Lastly, if one of you falls and can't get back up, the one left standing wins. On that note...begin!"

Play Music: http/youtu.be/KrFQ7iK7EwA

[Fairy Tail OST- Black Flame]

As soon as Ozpin called the start of the match, Yang shot forward, eager to get the first hit. Connor had no time to react to her hasty assault and received a hard punch to the face. He felt his nose break once again and blood spurted from his mouth as he fell back. He landed on his back, feeling intense pain all across his face. Yang was a hard hitter, he knew that, but this was more than he'd expected. He moved his tongue around in his mouth, searching for any damage, and found a couple of lose teeth along with a lot of blood.

"Connor!" Ruby cried out, extremely concerned for her possible fiancé. She noticed blood dripping from his nose and mouth as he struggled to pull himself up and grew even more worried. "I thought the aura shield could protect against wounds like that." She said.

"From what I understand, the aura shielding is only meant to protect the user from major injuries." Kane explained from Ruby's left side, as Irileth clutched his sleeve nervously from his left. "A minor wound such as that wouldn't be prevented by it, as its main purpose to prevent deaths in sparring matches."

"Damn it." Jim cursed, frowning at the scene of the battle gravely. "He's already taken a hard hit, and Yang's nowhere near finished with him."

Connor next rose to his feet, his face in agony. He fought the pain as best he could, but he was aware of his body shaking. It was only a mere minute into the fight and he'd already taken a serious blow. He needed to get in a hit of his own. Once he was steady on his feet, he rolled up his sleeves to the elbow then rushed at Yang. He threw a punch which Yang easily dodged like a pro boxer, then winced as he received a punch to the side.

Connor fell over sideways as Yang's fist punched into the side of his ribs. Normally a punch of such a strength could've possibly broken a rib or two, but Connor knew that the aura shield had kicked in and protected him, which meant he was in the danger zone already. He had still felt the pain of the impact thought, and struggled to rise to one knee.

As he did, Yang delivered an uppercut blow to his chin, knocking him onto his back again. He felt the hard floor smash against his spine, and knew he'd be in a lot of trouble if not for the aura shield. He understood now why Ozpin had activated them for this match.

"CONNOR!" He heard Ruby cry out again. Looking over to the stands on his left while still on the ground, he saw Ruby with one foot on the barrier, Jim and Kane stopping her from climbing over it. She had tears in her eyes, and seeing that made Connor angry.

Just as he prepared to stand up with renewed motivation however, Yang stomped her foot on his chest, making him cough up blood again. He heard Ruby begging Yang to stop, but he knew she wouldn't. Not with her sister's hand in marriage at stake.

Yang glared down at Connor, showing her blood red eyes, displaying that her semblance had been activated. "Is this all you've got?!"

Volume 3, Ending 2

Ending Music: https/youtu.be/QIG4_FLvRb0 [Naruto S ED 33]

Hitori janai yo! Osoreru mono nante nai kara!

(Shows Damien at night)

Ikou

(Damien smiles)

saa aa

(Damien raises his hand) me o akete!

(Rocks float in the air behind him) Butsukatte ita hontou wa

(Shows Damien and Daryl reaching out for each other)

oitsukitakute!

(Damien and Daryl clash swords then Murlough stabs Damien in the back)

Kizu

(Shows Damien's sword in the ground)

tsukeatte

(Shows Damien on many battlefields standing over dead bodies)

tsunagitomeru kizuna hoshikute! (Shows the Outlaws fighting people)

Gomen wasure

(Shows Damien meeting Brook and then meeting Murlough)

naide

(Shows members of the Outlaws dying in front of Damien)

Shinjite

(Shows Damien getting the Kalos Crystal)

mattete

(Shows Kane and then Connor as kids)

Mukae ni

(Shows Damien taking off his jacket and then dropping it)

ikunda!

(Damien goes into a battle pose and is surrounded by soldiers) Yuuki no tomoshibi terashidase yowasa o! Kizu datte itami

(Damien pulls out his flintlock pistols swords and starts fighting the soldiers)

datte wakeaeba

(Damien runs along a cliff edge) heiki da!

(He jumps off the cliff)

Kimi no senaka osu

(Shows Brook sharpening his hooks against each other) musunda yakusoku!

(Shows Murlough and zooms in on his eye)

Itsudatte

(Damien activated the Kalos Crystal)

haretatte!

(Kalos appears behind him sitting on the massive rune wall) Shinjiirareru

(Shows Damien as a kid)

kizuna

(Shows Daryl as a kid)

wa muni ni

(Shows Damien grown up sucking in the purple Kalos Crystal energy) nemutteru!

(Shows his eye go purple)

END


	11. Chapter 11- Acceptance

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 11

Acceptance

 **Okay, this is my favourite chapter in this volume. The one I enjoyed writing the most. Hope everyone likes it.**

Opening Music: http/youtu.be/qBB-R7lBspc

(Shows the runic symbols of the Ancient Remnant Tomes)

(Shows Kane)

(Shows Mars)

(Shows Jim)

(Shows Ruby)

(Shows Connor)

(Shows Team KALOS)

(OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS) (Shows Beacon)

YO HO kaji o kire tori kaji ippai de! YO HO uosao

(Shows Team JNPR inside the Beacon sparring arena cheering) ikina jinsei!

(Shows Team RWBY and Ozpin cheering)

(Shows Team KALOS cheering) (Shows Team KALOS standing on the cliff of Beacon)

Hi ga ochiru

(Zooms in Connor's eye) koro ni wa (Pans over Team KALOS)

shukko no utage!

(Shows Damien on top of a tree, wearing a cloth make over his face) Sabishiku nanka nai iki

(An apparition of Daryl appears behind Damien)

terya mata

(Damien jumps down from the tree and runs towards Beacon)

dokka de aeru!

(Shows Kane pull out his scythes and summon up dark clouds) Mukaikaze buchi nuki

(Shows Jim next to Yang, Yang blushes and looks away)

tabidate!

(Shows Connor and Kane go back to back as Mars' shield surrounds them)

Namida namida kareru made (Shows Mars standing on a telekinetic platform above them) otokonara tsuyogatte!

(Shows Irileth flip in the air and summon up her purple crows) Tomo yo tomo yo

(Stephane takes out all the purple crows with his blade)

itsu no hi ka

(Shows Connor punch at Mars) warette!

(Mars blocks the punch and hits back, sending Connor flying)

Katai katai

(Kane fires a dark cloud arrow at Mars)

kizuna

(Mars dodges back then jumps up) o sa tashikame

(Mars fires balls of green energy at them)

aeru

(Kane fires black clouds from his hands)

yo ni

(Connor jumps over Kane's head and fires light from his hands)

Ima

(Shows Yang)

kagayaki dasu

(Yang activates her semblance and fire appears)

mirai no chizu o sa tsukami tore!

(Shows Ozpin signalling the start of a sparring match)

(Shows Irileth attacking with her whips)

(Shows Jim running with his boomerangs in his hands)

(Shows Damien walking into the Beacon entrance hall)

(Shows Mars go into Mystic State)

(Connor and Kane throw punches at him)

END

Play Music: http/youtu.be/KrFQ7iK7EwA

[Fairy Tail OST- Black Flame]

"Is that all you've got?!" Yang taunted as her boot weighed down on Connor's chest. He could feel more teeth having been knocked loose by the last punch, and his mouth was full of his own blood. His ribs, while still intact thanks to the aura shielding, hurt tremendously and Yang's foot was stood right on them. He could see Jim, Kane, Ruby and Irileth all stood up out of their seats, ready to rush to his aid if Ozpin called the match. Ozpin however was sat quite calmly sipping his coffee, staring at Connor as if to act disappointed. It was as if his eyes were telling Connor to get up and fight, that he was stronger than this, but he didn't say it.

Growing frustrated by Ozpin's silence, Connor decided it was time to man up. He gritted his teeth and pulled back his fist, then slammed it into the side of Yang's boot. It had no effect however, other than to make Yang snicker at his feeble attempt to fight back. "That's a pathetic excuse for a punch." She mocked as he continued to throw light and ineffective punches at her boot to try to knock her over.

Connor knew he needed to punch harder, but his physical strength alone wasn't enough. Yang was a tank, able to take quite a beating before admitting the skill of her opponent. He needed just a little bit of aura, a little bit of his semblance to help him. It was hard to draw out energy without the Kalos Crystal, but he had to try. Suddenly he felt power surging through his fist and he looked at it to see it was glowing brightly with the golden light of his aura.

Play Music: http/youtu.be/Zjb109KA6Po

[Fairy Tail OST- Cobra's Theme]

He then grinned confidently for the first time in the fight and exclaimed, "How about this for a punch then?!" He followed up his words by slamming his shining fist into Yangs ankle, hitting her with enough power to knock her off his chest. She stumbled back, surprised by his sudden growth in power, but didn't fall as he had many times already.

Connor took the chance of Yang being stunned by his sudden counter attack to rise to his feet and wipe the blood from around his mouth. He threw Yang a cocky grin and watched out of the corner of his eye as the look on Ozpin's face changed to one of serious interest.

"Woah, he looks pumped." Jim commented, seeing the fiery look in Connor's eyes. "He was so nervous before, what's changed?"

"Connor..." Kane mumbled to himself, gazing in wonderment at his teammates sudden change of attitude. Then Kane did something that no one would have ever expected him to do, and yelled at of his voice, "Connor! Kick her arse!"

Spurred on even more by Kane's words, as everyone in the stands stared at him in surprise, Connor rushed towards Yang with renewed motivation and threw another punch. Yang managed to dodge to the side, but as she felt a brush of air on the side of her head, she knew that the punch was a lot stronger than the last. She felt the rush of air through her hair as his fist barely missed her face, and reacted by throwing a punch towards the side of his body again, aiming for the same spot he had hit before.

Suddenly and unexpectedly, Connor had stepped out the way of the punch lightning fast and Yang missed her target. He then moved forward and hit Yang in her side, impacting with enough force to knock her on to the ground. She quickly pushed herself back up, not relenting in the slightest.

Connor then launched even more attacks at Yang, not letting up for a second. The battle ramped up, and the tension in the crowd rose as the two of them began fighting on an entirely new level. Connor expertly dodged Yang's punches with the help of his semblance and returned fire, Yang only being fast enough to avoid some of the attacks and ended up being hit a number of times. Connor's punches weren't as hard as Yang's, but with his golden aura powering them, they were still formidable.

The fight continued for a few minutes, both of the combatants fighting hard against each other. The crowd was on the edge of their seats for a while and finally stood up in excitement when Yang and Connor both hit each other in the face at the same time and went down onto their knees. Connor rose up first, taking the opportunity to back off from Yang. Next Yang got up, looking even angrier than previously.

Connor quickly found out why. He watched in terror as a lock of Yang's golden hair fell from her head and floated down to the floor, her eyes turning a darker red in the same instance.

"Oh no..." Ruby worryingly muttered, her and the others still stood up behind the barrier. "Her semblance is fully activated, this is gonna be bad."

"Those red eyes are her semblance right?" Jim replied. "I thought it was already activated."

"Not fully." Ruby responded, her worry increasing by the second. "Yang usually only fully activates it in really bad situations. If she's gonna use it here...Connor might not be able to withstand it."

"Damn." Kane cursed, frowning at Yang as she glared furiously at Connor. "Is she really that strong?"

Back on the battlefield, Yang smashed her fists together in her rage. As she did so, her hair spontaneously combusted, flames licking every lock. It didn't burn though, in fact her aura seemed to be super powering the flames as well as keeping them from harming her. With no warning, Yang shot forward and smashed her fist into Connor's cheek, the punch ten times more powerful than before. Connor reeled back, feeling all the teeth in that side of his mouth being knocked out and his jaw fracture, but couldn't avoid Yang's next attack. She smashed him straight in the belly, sending him flying across the sparring arena until he hit the wall of which Ruby was seated just above.

Play Music: http/youtu.be/Loi4bYzXvAw

[Fairy Tail OST- Main Theme Slow]

Ruby looked down at at his broken, bleeding figure, tears welling up in her eyes again. Just a minute beforehand, she'd thought he might have had a chance at winning. Now however, it looked as though he wouldn't be able to stand.

Connor was breathing heavily, blood dripping out of his mouth, his vision blurred. He'd never been hit so hard in his life, never felt so much pain. Even being shot by Murlough wasn't as painful. On top of that, he felt like some of his ribs had been broken even with the aura shield protecting him. He didn't want to feel this pain anymore, he was ready to give up. "I'm sorry Ruby..." He thought to himself as his head began to hang.

"GET UP CONNOR!" Someone screamed from the crowd. He recognised the voice to be Jim's.

"DON'T LET HER BEAT YOU!" Kane then shouted at him. Connor began to lift his head, his confidence rising.

"Don't give up Connor!" Irileth next yelled down to him, not quite as loud as the two boys, but loud nonetheless.

Then came the one that inspired the most bravery in Connor, the one voice that could pull him from the pits of hell. Ruby Rose.

"I know you're strong enough!"

Hearing her voice, Connor called on all his remaining strength and rose to one knee, a tear falling from his eye in homage to the girl he was fighting so hard for. Behind him he could hear the crowd yelling alongside his friends, all the students shouting at him, telling him to get up and fight. He'd never felt so motivated, so supported, in his entire life.

Even Ozpin stood straight up out of shock to see Connor getting back up after such a beatdown, dropping his coffee cup and hearing it smash on the floor, but ignoring it. He wasn't one for cheering or shouting like the rest of the crowd was, but he was inspired by Connor's determination all the same. When he had first arrived at Beacon, he had no friends and no intention of making any, he was alone. Now, he was being cheered on by the entire student body, who were giving him their full support.

When Connor was back in his feet, the crowd cheered unbelievably loud. He looked right into Yang's eyes with raw determination, as her look of anger turned to one of shock. He felt the power of his semblance growing, his aura strengthening. The glowing light that was over his hands snaked its way up his forearm, up to where his sleeve was rolled up, and glowed even brighter and more powerfully. The same golden light circled out his body in thin spirals, his semblance's power strengthened exponentially. Ozpin stared in amazement at Connor's rising power level, a part of him unable to believe what he was seeing, the other part of him so proud of the boy he had rescued from the darkest depths of sorrow and despair.

After about a minute of building up, the golden light was shining brilliantly all over his forearms and across his body in the spiralling energy. He launched himself at Yang, punching her straight in the belly, and yelled, "Don't ever underestimate me again!" Yang was then sent flying into the wall on the other side of the arena, and smashed into it, then landed on her hands and knees.

Connor didn't stop there though. As soon as Yang was on her feet, Connor was right in front of her and unleashed a barrage of attacks, punching so fast and so hard that Yang had no chance to react. He landed hit after hit on her in multiple places, whittling down her strength. Everyone in the crowd stood on their feet, continuing their cheering as Connor laid into Yang, ensuring his victory.

Just as Connor felt Yang's aura levels lowering near rock bottom, she lashed out one last time, hoping to get one more good hit before she went down. Luckily for her, her fist went straight into Connor's right shoulder as he punched forward himself. His fist stopped short of Yang's face, his arm shook a little, then went limp. His other hand immediately went to where Yang had hit his shoulder, and then he fell, wincing in pain once again. Her last blow had broken his arm, despite the protection of the aura shielding system, it had been a super powerful last attack.

When Connor hit the floor, his eyes were closed. He lay on the cold ground, unmoving. The crowd went silent, even Connor's closest friends who had been cheering him on just moments before were completely void of cheers. Ruby stared at him, tears welling up once again as she gazed at his still form. Jim and Kane also stared in disbelief, unable to comprehend how he had gone from a powerhouse to being laid out on the arena floor with one blow.

Seeing that Connor wasn't going to get up, Ozpin raised one hand in the air to signal the end of the match. The crowd turned and look at him at the back of the stands, some of them resenting him for giving up on Connor, others knowing why he had done it.

"No!" Ruby cried out to Ozpin, unwilling to accept the battle was over. "He can still fight, he'll get up, he'll-"

"Ruby!" Jim snapped, making her jump. When she turned to face him, tears had started to stream down her face as she wondered why she had shouted at her. "I'm sorry, but he's done." When Ruby opened her mouth to say otherwise, Jim interrupted her again. "Even if he could get up, which he can't, it'd be stupid to let him keep fighting. If he goes on...he'll get himself really badly hurt. This is for his own good."

Ruby knew he was right, she didn't want to see Connor hurt, but she knew how he'd feel when he woke up. He'd feel as though he'd let Ruby down. Yang would probably not only call off the wedding, but also put a stop to their relationship. She began to sob as the tears came hard as she hid her face in her hands.

Ozpin decided he needed to announce an official result to end the match, and so he declared, "Yang Xiao Long is the victor."

Yang let out a large sigh, relieved for the match to finally be over. It had been a lot harder than she'd expected, Connor had put up quite a fight. "You won't...be marrying...my sister...anytime soon." Yang told Connor's unconscious body, taking deep breaths between her words.

Play Music: http/youtu.be/GkO0RyOyxcg

[Fairy Tail OST- The Promised Land]

"I...get...it..."

Yang snapped her head up and looked on Connor, who just a second ago had been laying knocked out cold on the ground, pushing himself up with one arm. He was struggling with it immensely, sweat running down his neck, but he kept going. Yang and the crowd all stared at him in disbelief, as he tried to rise back up after being knocked down so harshly.

"I...get...it...Yang..." He said, taking a break between each word to catch his breath which was slipping out of him in the pain. "I get...why you...hate me...so much." He was quickly getting his breath back, being able to speak a little longer before stopping. The speed at which he was getting his strength back amazed everyone. He managed to push himself up a little, then it became too hard and he settled an uncomfortable looking sitting position.

"You just wanna...protect Ruby right?" Connor guessed. "Just like I do. You want to protect her...from harm, by being...the only one she can...rely on...her big sister."

Getting emotional at Connor's remarks, Yang yelled, "Shut up! You don't know anything!" But even so, a small tear found its way to the corner of Yang's eye. He'd hit the nail right on the head.

"I want to protect...her too..." Connor told Yang sincerely, losing his breath again and having to speak slower. "I live to protect her...I love her..."

"I can protect her!" Yang shouted back at him, a mixture of angry and emotional. "I don't need your help! I don't want it!"

"LOOK AT ME!" Connor yelled back at her with passion. When Yang looked, he'd pulled off his eyepatch and revealed his skinned over eye socket to everyone in the room. She felt as if the ghost of his right eye was looking right at her, right into her heart. "I've sacrificed things for her Yang! I've lost things to protect her! My eye, my hand, I lost them protecting Ruby...and I'm willing to lose so much more...for her."

Connor then summoned all of his remaining strength as Yang and everyone else watched. He managed to get into one knee and from there stood up, slightly hunched from his injuries, but still standing. Legs shaking, he started to walk towards Yang, who had tears welling up in her eyes now that Connor had figured her out. As he walked, her said to her "Yang, let me take care of her now...please." He then stopped just in front of her, and waited for his answer as she wiped the tears away, not wanting anyone to see her cry.

"You think you've got me all figured out don't you?" She said to him, once she was ready. "Fine...you can have her...but if she ever gets hurt because of you..."

"I know." Connor finished, looking Yang right in her eyes, which had now reverted to their normal colour. He then did something that surprised Yang immensely, and hug her with his one good arm.

"Thank you." He told her, as she returned the hug. She knew what he was trying to get across, it wasn't a hug of love or even friendship. It was one of acceptance, and she returned that feeling.

"He's hugging Yang...?" Ruby muttered in disbelief. Yang had only ever hit Connor, and now she was embracing him.

"Lucky bastard." Jim let slip out, but fortunately no one heard him.

It was then that she felt Connor go limp in her arms, she held him out in front of herself and shook him, saying his name. However, he did not respond, he had lost consciousness again.

In an instant Ozpin yelled down the corridor, "Get the doctors in here, he needs go to the infirmary!" Right on cue two doctors ran into the arena with a stretcher. As they went down the combat area where Yang had laid Connor down, the others rushed in to see him. Ruby held his hand as they lifted him into the stretcher, flashing a grateful smile towards Yang. Jim went with Ruby as they started to carry him away, Irileth held Kane's hand, even as he struggled to get out of her grip.

As the doctors climbed up the stairs, Mars stood in the doorway in his pale green cloak, leaning against the door frame. He looked proudly down at his former student, brushing a hand through his greying green hair and thought to himself, "You really have grown up a lot...haven't you, Connor?"

Ending Music: https/youtu.be/QIG4_FLvRb0 [Naruto S ED 33]

Hitori janai yo! Osoreru mono nante nai kara!

(Shows Damien at night)

Ikou

(Damien smiles)

saa aa

(Damien raises his hand) me o akete!

(Rocks float in the air behind him) Butsukatte ita hontou wa

(Shows Damien and Daryl reaching out for each other)

oitsukitakute!

(Damien and Daryl clash swords then Murlough stabs Damien in the back)

Kizu

(Shows Damien's sword in the ground)

tsukeatte

(Shows Damien on many battlefields standing over dead bodies)

tsunagitomeru kizuna hoshikute! (Shows the Outlaws fighting people)

Gomen wasure

(Shows Damien meeting Brook and then meeting Murlough)

naide

(Shows members of the Outlaws dying in front of Damien)

Shinjite

(Shows Damien getting the Kalos Crystal)

mattete

(Shows Kane and then Connor as kids)

Mukae ni

(Shows Damien taking off his jacket and then dropping it)

ikunda!

(Damien goes into a battle pose and is surrounded by soldiers) Yuuki no tomoshibi terashidase yowasa o! Kizu datte itami

(Damien pulls out his flintlock pistols swords and starts fighting the soldiers)

datte wakeaeba

(Damien runs along a cliff edge) heiki da!

(He jumps off the cliff)

Kimi no senaka osu

(Shows Brook sharpening his hooks against each other) musunda yakusoku!

(Shows Murlough and zooms in on his eye)

Itsudatte

(Damien activated the Kalos Crystal)

haretatte!

(Kalos appears behind him sitting on the massive rune wall) Shinjiirareru

(Shows Damien as a kid)

kizuna

(Shows Daryl as a kid)

wa muni ni

(Shows Damien grown up sucking in the purple Kalos Crystal energy) nemutteru!

(Shows his eye go purple)

END


	12. Chapter 12- Building Bridges

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 12

Building Bridges

 **This one is being posted a little later than planned because I was busy writing a brand new chapter, but it's still within 24 hours of the last one!**

Opening Music: http/youtu.be/qBB-R7lBspc

[Fairy Tail OP 4]

(Shows the runic symbols of the Ancient Remnant Tomes)

(Shows Kane)

(Shows Mars)

(Shows Jim)

(Shows Ruby)

(Shows Connor)

(Shows Team KALOS)

(OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS) (Shows Beacon)

YO HO kaji o kire tori kaji ippai de! YO HO uosao

(Shows Team JNPR inside the Beacon sparring arena cheering) ikina jinsei!

(Shows Team RWBY and Ozpin cheering)

(Shows Team KALOS cheering) (Shows Team KALOS standing on the cliff of Beacon)

Hi ga ochiru

(Zooms in Connor's eye) koro ni wa (Pans over Team KALOS)

shukko no utage!

(Shows Damien on top of a tree, wearing a cloth make over his face) Sabishiku nanka nai iki

(An apparition of Daryl appears behind Damien)

terya mata

(Damien jumps down from the tree and runs towards Beacon)

dokka de aeru!

(Shows Kane pull out his scythes and summon up dark clouds) Mukaikaze buchi nuki

(Shows Jim next to Yang, Yang blushes and looks away)

tabidate!

(Shows Connor and Kane go back to back as Mars' shield surrounds them)

Namida namida kareru made (Shows Mars standing on a telekinetic platform above them) otokonara tsuyogatte!

(Shows Irileth flip in the air and summon up her purple crows) Tomo yo tomo yo

(Stephane takes out all the purple crows with his blade)

itsu no hi ka

(Shows Connor punch at Mars) warette!

(Mars blocks the punch and hits back, sending Connor flying)

Katai katai

(Kane fires a dark cloud arrow at Mars)

kizuna

(Mars dodges back then jumps up) o sa tashikame

(Mars fires balls of green energy at them)

aeru

(Kane fires black clouds from his hands)

yo ni

(Connor jumps over Kane's head and fires light from his hands)

Ima

(Shows Yang)

kagayaki dasu

(Yang activates her semblance and fire appears)

mirai no chizu o sa tsukami tore!

(Shows Ozpin signalling the start of a sparring match)

(Shows Irileth attacking with her whips)

(Shows Jim running with his boomerangs in his hands)

(Shows Damien walking into the Beacon entrance hall)

(Shows Mars go into Mystic State)

(Connor and Kane throw punches at him)

END

A little later that day, Connor was sat on the edge on an infirmary bed with Ruby sat on the chair by the side of it. After being carried in by two doctors, Doctor Brian had set to work had set to work examining and patching up the wounds. Thanks to Connor's aura, most of the minor injuries healed themselves over the next couple of hours. His broken rose reformed perfectly, and new teeth grew where they had been knocked out. His ribs were still slightly damaged, but were on the road to recovery. He thanked his lucky stars he had such a powerful aura, or it would've taken much longer to recover.

As for his broken right arm, Doctor Brian had put it in a bandaged sling until it healed. While Connor sat and waited for the test results to come through regarding his recovery, he tried to move his arm, to no avail. Ruby giggled as she watched his trying desperately to move his broken limb, getting annoyed when it wouldn't obey his commands.

"Well, it seems as though you're all good to go." Doctor Brian informed them, stepping towards them whilst looking at the results on his tablet. "Your arm is the only thing that hasn't started healing yet, because your body is prioritising other areas, but it should come along within a couple of days."

"All right! Thanks doc!" Connor replied, jumping up as Ruby also rose from her seat. He had no intention of spending more time in the infirmary, he'd done enough of that already throughout his time at Beacon.

"Hold on!" Doctor Brian exclaimed, stopping Connor in his tracks. "It's important that you don't get into to any more fights while your arm is still healing, or it'll just get worse! I know what you're like, don't start any fights!"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it." Connor responded dryly, already walking out of the door with Ruby, waving over his shoulder. Doctor Brian sighed as he watched the two of them stroll out of the infirmary, getting a horrible feeling that Connor wouldn't listen to his advice.

Connor and Ruby then made their way down the large Beacon corridors, headed for the hall, where they would meet up with Jim and Yang. For once they didn't walk hand in hand, as Connor's right arm was in a sling and Ruby was walking on that side of him. As they went, Connor noticed Ruby blushing and smiling and wondered what was on her mind. "What are you blushing about?" He asked sincerely.

Ruby blushed a little harder when she looked at Connor, then responded, "Oh, I was just thinking...I'm really happy, because we're getting married."

Connor smiled back at Ruby, just as happy as she was, and told her, "One day, when we get out of Beacon, we'll have a place together. We could even start a family. What do you think of that Rubes?"

Connor then stopped in his tracks as he bumped into Ruby, who was now standing right in front of him and looking right at his face. "What's the matter?" He asked her, wondering why she's stopped so suddenly. For a moment he was worried he'd scared her by talking too much about their future, but he knew she wasn't like that.

"Kiss me." She responded simply, sporting a cute smile and somehow managing not to blush.

Connor however, blushed profusely. The corridor they were in was buzzing with other students, all of which would see Connor and Ruby doing anything as they walked past. Sure he'd kissed Ruby before, that wasn't what he was afraid of. He was afraid of kissing her in front of all those people, and wondered why she wanted him to do so. He thought perhaps it was a test of his faith to her, to be able to kiss her in front of strangers.

"What are you waiting for?" Ruby complained sincerely. Connor wondered what had gotten into her, she wasn't normally so chipper about those sort of things. She'd usually be shy and blush a lot, but she wasn't.

"Ok...sure..." Connor replied nervously, scared of what the people who saw them might think. Regardless, he leaned in for the kiss as Ruby poked her head forward a little in preparation. As they were just about to touch lips, Connor feeling the eyes of many students on him, they were interrupted by a cheery blonde.

"Well, look at you two lovebirds!" Yang exclaimed, wrapping a hand around Connor's neck from behind and chummily rubbing her fist in his hair. "You look so cute together!"

Connor squirmed as Yang continued to ruffle up his hair, surprised by the sudden act of affection, if you could call it that. He had hoped she'd be a little better around after the fight between them, but she'd jumped over a massive hurdle being this friendly to him. She was treating him like she did everyone else, roughly, but with good intentions. "Yang, let go!" He moaned, his hair now a bushy mess.

"Oh, you're no fun." Yang complained, letting go of Connor and pushing him from behind, then laughing as he fell into Ruby's arms. "Still recovering from the beating I gave you?"

Connor steadied himself back on his feet, then glared at Yang sternly and replied, "One of these days, when I'm a lot stronger, we'll have a rematch. When we do, I won't lose again."

Yang laughed out loud at that remark, not taking Connor seriously at all, which peeved him off. "Why so serious? You should be happy! I'm letting you marry Ruby after all!"

Connor didn't know what to say to that at first, he was lost for words. He got what Yang was getting at, which was if he had her ever had a falling out, she might change her mind. "Sorry...I am grateful." He muttered, looking away from her.

"Jim!" Yang was then calling down the hall, completely ignoring Connor's apology, much to his annoyance. He looked down the way however, and saw that Jim was in fact walking his way up the corridor towards them. He raised his metal arm in the air and gave a friendly wave.

"Hey there, nice to see you two getting along." He said when he reached them, referring to Yang and Connor. "Yang, I was just wondering if-" He started to say, but was interrupted.

"Hey Jim, wanna fight me?!" Yang fiercely challenged. "I'm pumped up from fighting Connor, so you're next!"

"No, I'm fine thanks!" Jim quickly replied, no part of him wanting to get beaten by Yang any time soon. He got hurt by her enough on a regular basis and could only imagine how much getting hit by her in a fight would hurt.

Jim's face then turned dead serious however, when he saw Stephane walking down the corridor towards them. The two hadn't spoken since they had first bumped into each other, but Jim knew that if they did it would probably turn into a fight pretty quick.

Stephane had intended to just walk past Jim and the rest of them, he was on his way to get a bite to eat from the cafeteria. He stopped however when saw the way Jim was glaring at him, as the rest of them waited awkwardly, all worried they would kick off. For a moment he thought about starting something, but then saw Yang and remembered her talk with him. He'd though about what she'd said a lot and was starting to believe that it was true, to the point where he was thinking of apologising, although he sure Jim would accept an apology.

Rather than start a fight in the corridor, Stephane said to Jim sternly, "I heard about your friend's match with Yang, the sparring arena seems like a good place to solve disputes. How about we give it a go?"

"Why should I?" Jim snapped back, treating Stephane all the same, despite his efforts. He supposed he needed to make his intentions clearer.

"Let's make a little bet shall we?" Stephane replied, as Yang glared at him, daring him to cause trouble. "You've always insisted that what happened to my family wasn't your fault, and your girly friend here thinks so too."

Jim looked over at Yang in surprise at hearing that, his eyes asking her why she had told him. Yang simply shrugged in response, hiding a small smile.

"So here's the deal." Stephane continued. "If you can beat me...maybe I'll be inclined to believe your girlfriend."

Jim blushed slightly at that, hiding it by looking down at the ground. "She's not my girlfriend," He corrected, looking back up once he'd stopped blushing. "But I'll play along, you just say when."

Stephane would've given Jim a time for the fight right there, if it had not been for Kane, who carelessly shoved past him. Stephane was knocked back a little as Kane walked on, but Stephane was having none of it. "Hey, asshole!"

Kane stopped in his tracks upon hearing the insult. Irileth, who had tagging along with him, bumped into his back as he came to a halt. Both of them turned and looked at Stephane, Kane not in the mood for trouble, but willing to punish for it. "Who you calling asshole, french fry?"

"You pushed past me." Stephane bluntly stated, evidently very annoyed. He then stepped closer to Kane and looked menacingly into his eyes, purposefully treading on his toes. "Apologise." He commanded.

"How about I apologise with my fist?" Kane casually suggested, before throwing a much less casual punch towards Stephane.

Much to everyone's surprise, Stephane caught the punch in his hand, then sneered at Kane egotistically. When Kane looked, there was a thin blue aura around his opponents hand, powering his grip. Yang recognised it immediately, as he had used it to block her punch a few days previous.

"You wanna go, freak?" Stephane taunted, looking directly at Kane's face and shooting him a cocky grin.

"I'll break your legs, you bastard." Kane snarled back fiercely. Connor knew better than anyone how dangerous Kane could be when he was mad, and he was fuming at that moment.

Before a fight could ensue however, Irileth pushed Stephane away from Kane with a surprisingly amount of force, then stood in between the two. "Think hard before your next move, or I'll be the one to break your legs." Stephane still felt cocky however, not convinced that she had what it took to beat him, and so shot her a bold but boastful smile.

"Irileth, stay out of-"

"Shut up Kane!" Irileth shouted back at her childhood friend, shocking him and everyone else with her sudden aggression. She then addressed Stephane again, "Unless you want me personally snap your spine in two, you best never speak to Kane like that again."

Stephane brushed a hand through the longer side of his hair, not worried about the consequences of provoking Irileth, because he saw right through her behaviour. Just like Yang had been protective of Jim, Irileth was now acting to protect Kane. He found that funny, the girls defending the boys. "Just so you know, I have no problem with hitting a girl, if I'm provoked." He warned, flicking the longer side of his blonde hair away from his face.

"I'd like to see you try and hit me." Irileth retorted, pumping herself up for what she believed would be an easy fight. "I'm not just a girl, I'm a huntress. If you insult Kane, I will end you."

"Irileth, really just-"

"I told you to shut up Kane!" She shouted behind herself again, scaring Kane into silence. Connor had no idea that she could turn so aggressive. In that way, she was just like Kane.

"I won't be able to hit you huh?" Stephane repeated, putting his hand on his chin and pretending to be deep in thought. "Why don't we test that theory?"

Irileth took a fierce step forward, signalling she was accepting his challenge. "You're on!" She exclaimed. "I'll beat you to a pulp right here!"

Stephane let out a posh sounding giggle at that remark, brushing his hair out of his face again. "Here? In the corridor?" He mocked. "I wouldn't be caught dead fighting you in such a place."

"Then meet me at the sparring arena tomorrow at twelve noon!" Irileth suggested, or rather shouted, in response. "That's when I'll show everyone just how overrated your pompous little skull is!"

"Oh my, that hurt." Stephane mocked, putting his hand on his chest and feigning injury. He then turned to leave, but stopped as his eyes met with Jim's again. "Looks like our match will have to wait, Faunus." He said, a little less venomous than when he had been speaking to Irileth. "But I assure you, the matter will be settled."

Stephane then walked away, leaving the rest of the group to recover from the tense atmosphere that was finally lifting. Irileth calmed down and walked away with Kane, dragging by the arm as he stumbled behind her, too shocked to walk on his own. The others stared at them as they left, feeling surprised at seeing the new side of Irileth.

"Damn, she's a feisty one isn't she?" Jim commented.

"Yeah." Connor quickly agreed, "She and Kane might actually do alright together."

"Heh." Jim chuckled, as if he had heard a good joke. "I don't think it'll be that easy with Kane."

Ending Music: https/youtu.be/QIG4_FLvRb0 [Naruto S ED 33]

Hitori janai yo! Osoreru mono nante nai kara!

(Shows Damien at night)

Ikou

(Damien smiles)

saa aa

(Damien raises his hand) me o akete!

(Rocks float in the air behind him) Butsukatte ita hontou wa

(Shows Damien and Daryl reaching out for each other)

oitsukitakute!

(Damien and Daryl clash swords then Murlough stabs Damien in the back)

Kizu

(Shows Damien's sword in the ground)

tsukeatte

(Shows Damien on many battlefields standing over dead bodies)

tsunagitomeru kizuna hoshikute! (Shows the Outlaws fighting people)

Gomen wasure

(Shows Damien meeting Brook and then meeting Murlough)

naide

(Shows members of the Outlaws dying in front of Damien)

Shinjite

(Shows Damien getting the Kalos Crystal)

mattete

(Shows Kane and then Connor as kids)

Mukae ni

(Shows Damien taking off his jacket and then dropping it)

ikunda!

(Damien goes into a battle pose and is surrounded by soldiers) Yuuki no tomoshibi terashidase yowasa o! Kizu datte itami

(Damien pulls out his flintlock pistols swords and starts fighting the soldiers)

datte wakeaeba

(Damien runs along a cliff edge) heiki da!

(He jumps off the cliff)

Kimi no senaka osu

(Shows Brook sharpening his hooks against each other) musunda yakusoku!

(Shows Murlough and zooms in on his eye)

Itsudatte

(Damien activated the Kalos Crystal)

haretatte!

(Kalos appears behind him sitting on the massive rune wall) Shinjiirareru

(Shows Damien as a kid)

kizuna

(Shows Daryl as a kid)

wa muni ni

(Shows Damien grown up sucking in the purple Kalos Crystal energy) nemutteru!

(Shows his eye go purple)

END


	13. Chapter 13- Knight VS Lady

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 13

Knight VS Lady

Opening Music: http/youtu.be/qBB-R7lBspc

[Fairy Tail OP 4]

(Shows the runic symbols of the Ancient Remnant Tomes)

(Shows Kane)

(Shows Mars)

(Shows Jim)

(Shows Ruby)

(Shows Connor)

(Shows Team KALOS)

(OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS) (Shows Beacon)

YO HO kaji o kire tori kaji ippai de! YO HO uosao

(Shows Team JNPR inside the Beacon sparring arena cheering) ikina jinsei!

(Shows Team RWBY and Ozpin cheering)

(Shows Team KALOS cheering) (Shows Team KALOS standing on the cliff of Beacon)

Hi ga ochiru

(Zooms in Connor's eye) koro ni wa (Pans over Team KALOS)

shukko no utage!

(Shows Damien on top of a tree, wearing a cloth make over his face) Sabishiku nanka nai iki

(An apparition of Daryl appears behind Damien)

terya mata

(Damien jumps down from the tree and runs towards Beacon)

dokka de aeru!

(Shows Kane pull out his scythes and summon up dark clouds) Mukaikaze buchi nuki

(Shows Jim next to Yang, Yang blushes and looks away)

tabidate!

(Shows Connor and Kane go back to back as Mars' shield surrounds them)

Namida namida kareru made (Shows Mars standing on a telekinetic platform above them) otokonara tsuyogatte!

(Shows Irileth flip in the air and summon up her purple crows) Tomo yo tomo yo

(Stephane takes out all the purple crows with his blade)

itsu no hi ka

(Shows Connor punch at Mars) warette!

(Mars blocks the punch and hits back, sending Connor flying)

Katai katai

(Kane fires a dark cloud arrow at Mars)

kizuna

(Mars dodges back then jumps up) o sa tashikame

(Mars fires balls of green energy at them)

aeru

(Kane fires black clouds from his hands)

yo ni

(Connor jumps over Kane's head and fires light from his hands)

Ima

(Shows Yang)

kagayaki dasu

(Yang activates her semblance and fire appears)

mirai no chizu o sa tsukami tore!

(Shows Ozpin signalling the start of a sparring match)

(Shows Irileth attacking with her whips)

(Shows Jim running with his boomerangs in his hands)

(Shows Damien walking into the Beacon entrance hall)

(Shows Mars go into Mystic State)

(Connor and Kane throw punches at him)

END

Play Music: http/youtu.be/xaF5gBX_R5k

[Fairy Tail 2014 Main Theme]

The crowd roared passionately as the two combatants took their places on the battlefield, locking eyes fiercely. On one side stood Stephane, being cheered on by a gaggle of girls in the stands behind him. On the other end stood Irileth, the other members of Team Kalos minus Mars, along with Ruby and Yang supporting her from behind. On their right side were there was the main stands, a path cutting through the middle of them to the main arena doors. On their left was a blank wall, on the other side of which was the Beacon gardens.

Stephane held in one hand an enormous cleaver like sword, one side of it a straight blade, the other straight up to almost the end, then a curve into the sharp bladed shape at the end. In his right hand he held a great shield made out of a sturdy rock. The surface of it was not smooth, but in fact rocks jutted out everywhere, as if it had been roughly assembled. Despite that however, it gave the shield a menacing look. Irileth noted the rocks were unscratched, meaning they must be incredibly sturdy. Irileth herself was equipped with two small bronze cylinders, one in each hand. She didn't intend to show her weapon until the battle began and so kept it sheathed.

"I seem to remember you saying I wouldn't be able to hit you." Stephane spoke loudly, to be heard over the rambunctious crowd whose excited screaming showed how much they had been looking forward to seeing him fight. "I hope you're ready for me to disprove that theory!" He challenged, entering a battle stance with his sword in front of him and his shield behind. Irileth took this as an aggressive tactic, but also wondered if he planned to attempt to parry her.

She said nothing however, not wanting to give any inkling as to her strategy for this fight. Instead she sternly stared back at him in an attempt to make him nervous. It didn't work though, he looked back at her with the same grit and a cocky grin to boot.

Ozpin then appeared in the stirs case between the stands, just outside the arena, and announced, "Normal rules apply, weapons may be used as well as semblances! The match shall end when one of you falls and does not get back up!" He then shot a quick glance at both the competitors to check that they were ready and, after receiving a quick nod from each, raised his hand in the air and yelled, "Begin!"

Play Music: http/youtu.be/CZq88bs0kHs

[Fairy Tail OST- Invoke Magic]

The instant Ozpin had signalled the start of the match, Stephane shot forward at incredible speed, launching himself off of his feet. He stuck his sword forward, intending to hit Irileth in the chest right from the start and take her down quickly. He was surprised however, when Irileth jumped over his head incredibly fast, dodging the stabbing motion of his weapon. Once directly above him in the air, she lashed out with a kick aimed right at his face. He reacted just as hastily as she had before, turning round and raising his shield above his head to block the hit. Irileth then launched herself off the shield and into the air with the power of her legs alone, and pressed a button on the sides of the bronze cylinders she was still holding onto. The two cylinders shifted and transformed into two small pistols and when Irileth pulled the trigger, shots of purple energy fired from the thin barrels. Stephane moved his shield in reaction and blocked the hit, the purple energy causing a small wave of energy and a cloud of dust as it impacted the rock. Irileth landed perfectly on her feet, then pointed one pistol straight at Stephane, whilst holding the other up near her head, presumably to be ready for quick aiming.

Stephane looked round the edge of his shield as the crowd went wild for the action they had just scene. Most were cheering for Stephane, but some, Team Kalos and friends included, cheered for Irileth. "I'm seen as a great warrior you know." Stephane informed his opponent. "That's why they for me over you, I'm known by them as one of the best."

"I'll shatter that title!" Irileth snapped back fiercely, making even Stephane a little uneasy. "For what you said to Kane, I'll shatter your reputation!"

The crowd cheered harder at that, more generally now than for a specific fighter. Irileth's determination and skill had taken them from supporting the one the saw as a great knight to cheering for more action from either side in seconds.

"She's really fired up isn't she?" Connor commented, seeing the look in Irileth's eyes as she planned her next move. "She's doing all that that for you too Kane, what do you think about that?"

Kane scoffed in response, not in the least bit bothered by Irileth's manner. "I can handle a little insult, she didn't have to butt in for my sake." He said. "Besides, if it was me out there, he'd already be on the floor." He added, staring at Stephane's back maliciously and imagining how he could win a fight against him in mere seconds.

"Oh, really?" Jim replied doubtfully, holding his arms crossed and wearing a disbelieving smile. "Even with that big shield to get past?"

"I'd smash it to pieces with one blow." Kane menacingly replied, unintentionally showing how much he had wanted to fight.

"I don't know about that, Irileth's attack didn't even make a dent." Ruby pointed out, knowing well how durable the shield must be to withstand a shot like that without being damaged at all, and also knowing rock and stone wasn't strong enough. Something was up, his shield was somehow stronger than the material it was made out of.

Before they could speak more about their thoughts on the fight so far, Stephane stopped hiding standing still behind his shield as charged forward with his weapon by his side and his shield covering his face. Irileth didn't bother taking any shots, knowing it wouldn't do a thing to the shield and essentially be a waste of dust and aura. When Stephane swung his sword from left to right, she ducked under it, her entire body practically touching the floor. Before the shocked Stephane could recover from his wide swing, she pressed a button on her pistols and the crowd awed as they folded back into pistols, then purple energy shot out of the ends and took the form of two long energy whips. In one swift motion, she smacked the whips past Stephane's legs, tripping him up and resulting in him ending up on the ground while Irileth stood tall.

"She knocked him down?" Yang commented, amazed that Irileth found a way around the massive great shield.

"Go Irileth!" Jim cheered, raising his metal arm into the air and Yang cheered along with him. "Keep him down!" They both shouted in support.

Kane simply stared, he wasn't normally the kind to cheer, his shouting during Connor's fight against Yang and been a one off and he had no intention of repeating it. Despite that, he was impressed by Irileth's skill. When he had last seen her as a child she showed no prospects of becoming a huntress, whereas he was already well learned in the powers of his semblance, and shortly after leaving he also became adept in combat. Now she was here, kicking the arse of a pompous knight, she had come a long way.

By the time Stephane rose to his feet, being weighed down by his shield, Irileth was already walking away from him towards what had originally been his side of the stands. She took a moment to glare terrifyingly at the girls seated there who had previously been cheering for the great knight, but were now shocked into silence.

"I did say you wouldn't be able to land a hit on me, didn't I?" She then said, addressing Stephane without even turning to look at him. "You told me you were gonna disprove that statement, so what are you waiting for?"

Now steady on his feet, but slightly bruised from where he fell, Stephane answered, "You wench, guess I'll have to step my game up."

"You're not different from everyone else, you know." Irileth then told him sternly, still turned away from him. Stephane felt his breath caught in his breath at what he figured she was talking about, but how had she figured it out?

"What's she going on about?" Connor whispered, not wanting to disturb the serene silence that had come about after that line. Everyone who has been cheering up to this point was now not making any sound at all, each and every one of them waiting for the explanation.

"Jim told me and Kane all about you..." Irileth continued, all eyes and ears on the arena on her, watching and listening. "Your family's pretty well off, so your a rich kid."

"What's that got to do with anything?" Stephane questioned, pretending he didn't know what she was going to say. "It's not like I bribed any judges, there aren't any."

"Everyone thinks you hate Jim because of what his kind did to your family, but that's not the case." Irileth kept going, getting closer to saying what Stephane desperately didn't want her to in front of all the people watching the fight. "There's no way that over all those years you haven't forgiven him. I've spent a lot of time with you at Mythril Academy, I know you're not that stupid."

Everyone, Stephane included, then waited for the final statement as Irileth finally turned around to face her opponent. Everyone was on the edge of their seats, wanting to know the juicy secret that Stephane had been hiding. Jim especially was intrigued, deep in thought about what this all could mean.

When Irileth stopped turning and fully faced Stephane, her hand was surrounded by a thin purple glow and her eyes had the same aura emanating from them. She pointed her hand, energy whip still in it, out towards Stephane and pointed at him with her first two fingers side by side. She then opened her mouth again and, breaking the silence of the arena, announced, "The real reason you hate Jim...is because you thought with all the money and fame your family had, all the pride they possessed...you thought you could never be his friend anyway."

After that silence returned, no noise was heard in the arena, and no one moved. They all just stared at Stephane as he hung his head, his secret side revealed. Jim looked at him, unable to see his face from behind, and wondered if maybe...

"You are a wench...I'm gonna pummel you." Stephane threatened, raising his head to show a look of extreme fury. She had revealed his deepest secret, something he had intended to take to the grave, and he was going to make her pay for it. His eyes widened however, when he saw her drawing back her purple glowing fist.

When Irileth punched forward into the air with her fist, the purple glow intensified, and shapes emerged from the light. They then took on the shape of crows, small purple crows. They had no features, no eyes or any other extremities, they were simply plain purple birds. Not even feathers were distinguishable, their bodies were plain and purple. About thirty of them in all rushed through the air towards Stephane, gliding valiantly without the need to flap their wings.

Stephane went down on one knee and held his shield up in front of him in response, the crows ricocheting off the rock and melting away into nothing but a light purple vapour, which in time also vanished. Despite that, Irileth kept up with her assault, sending more and more of her birds constructed from nothing but her own energy to attack Stephane in the hope of damaging his shield. "So this is her semblance...it's no match for mine." He thought to himself and then shouted out over the noise of the flock's war cry, "My semblance has added an extra layer of protection to my shield, you won't be able to get past it!"

Irileth heard that and observed his shield as she kept up her attack, noticing a thin blue aura around his shield, the extra layer of protection he had spoken of. His semblance certainly was strong, but Irileth had faith in her own. She increases the power of the flock ever so slightly, and as she had hoped, Stephane's shield was knocked to the side.

"She broke my guard?!" He thought to himself in disbelief as he started to fall backwards from the force of the blow. He managed to get a hold of his footing, but he didn't have time to raise his shield again before the next wave of crows was on top of him.

The entirety of the crowd was lost for words as they laid eyes on what happened next. Stephane stood completely straight, unaffected by the barrage of birds, with a thin blue aura surrounding his body. It was the same aura he had previously imbued his shield with, except now it was all over him. "This is true potential of my semblance." Stephane declared, grinning cockily as even Irileth's face looked shocked. "I'm impressed you managed to break my guard, but I always have a backup plan. My semblance has now formed a protective barrier around my body, your attacks will do nought."

Taking advantage of Irileth's surprise, Stephane then rushed forward, charging the blue aura of his semblance into his executioner's blade. Just like before, Irileth dodged under his swing, but this time Stephane had a follow up attack. He smashed his blue imbued sword into the ground next to Irileth, sending a wave of invisible energy bursting through the arena, Irileth being lifted up into the air by the force of it. He then charged the same blue energy into his shield, and smashed Irileth out of the air with it, sending her across the arena and hitting the floor with a crash.

The crowd cheered in Stephane's favour after that, all except Team Kalos of course. Irileth lay on her hands and knees, bruised all over from the hard landing. She pushed as away from the floor as much as she could, but the hit had been a hard one and she couldn't rise. "How about we end it here?" Stephane suggested. "You're not going to be able to get up, and I don't want to hurt you anymore than I already have. You are a woman after all."

Play Music: http/youtu.be/R01X4vaerUc

[Fairy Tail OST- Fairy Glitter]

"Is this...the way you think you'll make friends?" Irileth weakly asked, still recovering from the blow she had received. Still down on the ground, she turned her head to look at Stephane. "This way...you'll only push people further away from you."

"What are you going on about now, wench?" Stephane asked in response, even though he knew exactly what she was talking about. He clenched his fist as it hung by his side, holding the handle of his blade, the long side of his hair covering his facial expression.

"You...treat people like...crap because of your family." Irileth continued as the crowd was once again thrown into silence by her tone. "Your family is...rich and famous...and so they'd see it as a betrayal for you to...associate with us, we commoners, but it doesn't have to be that way!"

"Shut up, you whore..." Stephane cursed, his fists shaking uncontrollably. Even though she was trying to help him, he didn't want her to spill his secret emotions.

"You want more than anything to associate with us though, don't you?" Irileth kept going, the audience enthralled by her speech. "You're not like the rest of your family, deep down, under the cover you put over yourself. More than anything...you want to set yourself apart from your prejudice family...and have friends like us."

Stephane loosened his grip on his weapon and shield upon hearing that, she's hit the nail right on the head and he didn't know how he should react. If she hadn't called him out, he could've carried that secret to his deathbed.

"Friends that laugh and cry together are so much more than a family wound up on formalities and old traditions, you know that." Irileth added, everyone hanging on to her every word. "Friends like us...support each other no matter what, where an old, rich family such as yours might throw you out on the street. You desperately want to be a part...of the Beacon family."

Stephane was frozen still by this point, not out of fear, but out of relief. Finally what he had wanted to say for years had been said. "She's right..." He thought to himself. "My family has always been so...different to me. They hated the Faunus, whereas I had a Faunus friend. They made me get rid of him, they didn't want me to associate with his kind. Now though...now I can..."

Stephane's thoughts were cut off when he felt the impact of a flock of crows hitting him. In his emotions, he had left his shielding down, but he didn't care. He fell to the ground and dropped his weapons, unconcerned about the result of the battle. When he stood, he didn't left his equipment on the floor and announced, "I forfeit, Irileth wins."

Cheering them filled the arena for the last time that day. Despite his the match had ended, the crowd had thoroughly enjoyed it, and cheered the outcome. Stephane walked solemnly out towards the exit of the arena, whilst hearing Team Kalos and friends cheering Irileth's name. One thing he hadn't anticipated however, was that Jim was be standing in front of the open double doors, blocking his exit.

"Jim..." Stephane said to him, lifting his head up so the hair would move out of the way of his face. "I've been a dick, I know. Now you know why. I won't be surprised if you don't forgive me, and I won't blame you if you don't want to be my friend but-"

"What do you take me for?" Jim interpreted, surprising Stephane, who looked at him in confusion.

"I-"

"You think I'm the sort of guy who won't forgive someone for their actions?" Jim said. "I'm not a dick, like you have been these past few years. After hearing how much you need a good friend, and how denied you were in having one, how could I refuse you my friendship?"

For the first Jim remembered seeing, and for the first time in a long time, Stephane smiled gratefully. He was happy that Jim had so readily forgiven him, such was the kind of friend he's always wanted. "Jim..." He started to say, but was again interrupted.

"Come on, let's get those bruises looked at!" Jim chummily suggested, wrapping his arm around Stephane in a friendly manner. The two then left the arena as the rest of Team Kalos congratulated Irileth on her victory, and one person watched the two new mates leave.

Ozpin smiled sincerely, the group was coming together nicely.

Ending Music: https/youtu.be/QIG4_FLvRb0 [Naruto S ED 33]

Hitori janai yo! Osoreru mono nante nai kara!

(Shows Damien at night)

Ikou

(Damien smiles)

saa aa

(Damien raises his hand) me o akete!

(Rocks float in the air behind him) Butsukatte ita hontou wa

(Shows Damien and Daryl reaching out for each other)

oitsukitakute!

(Damien and Daryl clash swords then Murlough stabs Damien in the back)

Kizu

(Shows Damien's sword in the ground)

tsukeatte

(Shows Damien on many battlefields standing over dead bodies)

tsunagitomeru kizuna hoshikute! (Shows the Outlaws fighting people)

Gomen wasure

(Shows Damien meeting Brook and then meeting Murlough)

naide

(Shows members of the Outlaws dying in front of Damien)

Shinjite

(Shows Damien getting the Kalos Crystal)

mattete

(Shows Kane and then Connor as kids)

Mukae ni

(Shows Damien taking off his jacket and then dropping it)

ikunda!

(Damien goes into a battle pose and is surrounded by soldiers) Yuuki no tomoshibi terashidase yowasa o! Kizu datte itami

(Damien pulls out his flintlock pistols swords and starts fighting the soldiers)

datte wakeaeba

(Damien runs along a cliff edge) heiki da!

(He jumps off the cliff)

Kimi no senaka osu

(Shows Brook sharpening his hooks against each other) musunda yakusoku!

(Shows Murlough and zooms in on his eye)

Itsudatte

(Damien activated the Kalos Crystal)

haretatte!

(Kalos appears behind him sitting on the massive rune wall) Shinjiirareru

(Shows Damien as a kid)

kizuna

(Shows Daryl as a kid)

wa muni ni

(Shows Damien grown up sucking in the purple Kalos Crystal energy) nemutteru!

(Shows his eye go purple)

END


	14. Chapter 14- Commendation Match

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 14

Commendation Match

 **Sorry for no chapters for a few days, flu hit me hard. Should be able to get back on track now though. Enjoy this one!**

Opening Music: http/youtu.be/qBB-R7lBspc

[Fairy Tail OP 4]

(Shows the runic symbols of the Ancient Remnant Tomes)

(Shows Kane)

(Shows Mars)

(Shows Jim)

(Shows Ruby)

(Shows Connor)

(Shows Team KALOS)

(OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS) (Shows Beacon)

YO HO kaji o kire tori kaji ippai de! YO HO uosao

(Shows Team JNPR inside the Beacon sparring arena cheering) ikina jinsei!

(Shows Team RWBY and Ozpin cheering)

(Shows Team KALOS cheering) (Shows Team KALOS standing on the cliff of Beacon)

Hi ga ochiru

(Zooms in Connor's eye) koro ni wa (Pans over Team KALOS)

shukko no utage!

(Shows Damien on top of a tree, wearing a cloth make over his face) Sabishiku nanka nai iki

(An apparition of Daryl appears behind Damien)

terya mata

(Damien jumps down from the tree and runs towards Beacon)

dokka de aeru!

(Shows Kane pull out his scythes and summon up dark clouds) Mukaikaze buchi nuki

(Shows Jim next to Yang, Yang blushes and looks away)

tabidate!

(Shows Connor and Kane go back to back as Mars' shield surrounds them)

Namida namida kareru made (Shows Mars standing on a telekinetic platform above them) otokonara tsuyogatte!

(Shows Irileth flip in the air and summon up her purple crows) Tomo yo tomo yo

(Stephane takes out all the purple crows with his blade)

itsu no hi ka

(Shows Connor punch at Mars) warette!

(Mars blocks the punch and hits back, sending Connor flying)

Katai katai

(Kane fires a dark cloud arrow at Mars)

kizuna

(Mars dodges back then jumps up) o sa tashikame

(Mars fires balls of green energy at them)

aeru

(Kane fires black clouds from his hands)

yo ni

(Connor jumps over Kane's head and fires light from his hands)

Ima

(Shows Yang)

kagayaki dasu

(Yang activates her semblance and fire appears)

mirai no chizu o sa tsukami tore!

(Shows Ozpin signalling the start of a sparring match)

(Shows Irileth attacking with her whips)

(Shows Jim running with his boomerangs in his hands)

(Shows Damien walking into the Beacon entrance hall)

(Shows Mars go into Mystic State)

(Connor and Kane throw punches at him)

END

Connor swivelled his newly healed arm at the joint, having eagerly ripped off the bandage after being told to do so by Doctor Brian. He stood in his room with Ruby, looking in the mirror as he grinned and waved his arm about, ecstatically happy to be able to use it again. It had taken a week to heal, his aura slowly fixing the broken parts of the bones all that time, but he was finally ready for action again.

"All right!" He cheered, punching the air in front of him in excitement. "I can't wait to get back into battle! That fight between Irileth and Stephane got me revved up!"

"You're just in time for the tournament too!" Ruby informed him. After weeks of the student body training and sparring against each other, the day of the tournament had finally arrived and Connor was luckily fit for a fight. "I wonder who'll be in the commendation match." Ruby then said.

"Commendation match?" Connor asked, not having heard of it before. He stopped punching air and looked at Ruby confusedly, waiting for he explanation.

"The Commendation Match is an old tradition with the tournaments." Ruby answered, giving Connor that ever innocent smile. "In celebration of the start of the new tournament, and in praise to all the winners in the years before, there will be one match before the tournament starts in the same arena. It won't have any impact on the tournament itself, it's more so to get the crowd excited for the future battles."

"Oh, I see." Connor said, intrigued by the idea of it, then going back to boxing with his reflection. "I wonder who'll be in it... it'd be a pretty cool thing to be a part of."

"Yeah but if you were a part of that fight, you wouldn't have time to recover before the main tournament." Ruby pointed out, bursting Connors hopes.

"That's true, I suppose..." Connor then responded, sighing and relaxing for a moment. "Oh well, I'll kick some ass in the main battles...and you'll be there to support me right?" He then said, turning to Ruby for her answer.

Ruby saw the determination in his eyes, the fiery will of his aura all around him, and cutely smiled back, "Yeah!"

The door of the room then swung open, as if pushed by incredible force, the hinges almost snapping under the pressure that had been exerted on them. In the doorway stood Mars, looking much more serious and menacing than usual, in his green cloak and battle clothing. "I heard that your arm has healed...just in time." He said to Connor, before walking into the room and putting his hand on the confused man's shoulder. "Come, let's go find Kane."

At that time, Kane was sat in the lunch hall next to Irileth, celebrating her victory over Stephane. Even though it had been a week since the fight, Kane had made a point of not celebrating it, he wasn't one for that kind of thing. On that day however, Irileth had dragged him into the lunch to get a special meal and talk about the fight. She sat there chowing into her chocolate brownie sundae, Kane having insisted he didn't want anything and was now sitting next to her grumpily and in silence.

"So what did you think of my victory, Kane?" Irileth questioned after finishing a mouthful of chocolate and cream. "You still haven't told me how you think I did. Were you impressed by my skills?"

"It was nothing compared to what I can do, I would've beaten him in seconds." Kane grumpily replied, turning his head away from Irileth's disappointed look. "But, I suppose...you're skills were...sort of impressive..." Kane then calmly admitted, feeling embarrassed to admit he had been surprised by his childhood friends skills.

The next thing he knew Irileth had wrapped her arms around him, reaching across to his seat and saying, "Kane! Thank you! It means so much to have impressed you!"

Struggling to get out of her grip before anyone else saw, Kane argued, "Get off of me! It wasn't that impressive! Don't hug me!"

"I see even you've softened up, Kane."

He and Irileth both stopped squirming and looked up at the sound of the voice, Irielth still with her arms around Kane. The voice had come from Mars, who was standing there with Connor and Ruby waiting behind him. "Softened up?" Kane repeated, scoffing. "Not me, I'm still as terrifying and powerful as ever."

"Care to put that to the test?" Mars suggested sternly, putting Kane off guard. "You and Connor are gonna go up against me in the Commendation Match today!"

There was then a moment of confused silence, then both Connor and Kane blurted out, "What?!" In surprise.

While he would have normally laughed at the looks on their faces, this time Mars stayed serious and replied, "I talked to Ozpin about it, said I wanted to fight against my two former students at the same time. He told me the only way to do that within the confines of the tournament is to battle you in the commendation match."

Both Kane and Connor were left speechless by this proposal. They remembered how strong he'd seemed back in the day, before they'd come to Beacon, and they never even saw him fight at full strength. All the times they'd fought against him before, when the two of them were sharing a body, they weren't permitted to use their semblance because of the destruction it could bring to the surrounding area. They had believed that it was because of this rule they'd never been able to beat Mars in practice, but he had never had to try very hard to win.

"The rules will be the same as when Connor fought Yang." Mars continued, ignoring the shocked state of his two future opponents. "No weapons, but semblances are fine. If anyone goes down and doesn't get back up, they're out." He then turned his head and looked and Connor, "I won't be holding anything back this time." Then looking at Kane, "I expect to see you both at your full strengths."

Finishing what he wanted to say, Mars then turned and promptly left, his cloak as he walked, leaving Connor and Kane to gather their thoughts. They both stared at him as he strolled away, Connor failing to hide the fact that he was frightened and Kane gritting his teeth angrily, but still shaking like Connor.

"Kane...?" Connor muttered nervously, still watching Mars leave.

"Yeah?" Kane replied, doing the same, with his fist curled up on the table.

There was then a few seconds of silence as Connor steadied his breathing and calmed down, then confidently declared, "Let's show him much we've grown!"

Three hours later the crowds of Beacon and beyond had gathered in the new arena. It was built atop the mountain facing Beacon, where mysterious construction had been taking place for many months. The arena itself was enormous, much larger than the sparring area. The battlefield was covered in sand and spread out across an squared acre of land, making for a massive battle zone. The stands around the arena were many floors high, the entire seating arena open to the cold wind and warm sun of the mountain. High up on one end there was a glass box, in which sat the judges, Oobleck, a professor at Beacon, and General Ironwood of the Vale Military. There were screens in the air around the arena too, held up by aura, for the ones in the crowd who couldn't see onto the battlefield or just for a close up.

In the middle of the stands on the west side were Jim, Yang, Stephane Irileth and Ruby. All five of them were sat on one row next to each other, having been given the best seats by Ozpin, who himself was sat a couple of rows up to the right, next to a mysterious man. The man wore a long brown cloak and had messy brown hair. A brown cloth covered the majority of his face, hiding his identity and strapped to each of his legs, a flintlock pistol with a katana as a bayonet.

"This is a waste of time." The man grumbled to Ozpin. "I came here for a reason and it wasn't to watch a fight."

"Don't worry, we'll get to that." Ozpin replied calmly, holding a cup of coffee even in this situation. "I don't want to interrupt this match, I've a feeling it's going to be quite splendid."

"You really think they'll listen to me?" The man asked, ignoring Ozpin's comments on the match.

"Maybe not at first, but give them time." Ozpin answered. "They'll want justice for it just as much as you do I'm sure."

The man grumbled at Ozpin's answer and hunched over, not intending to watch the match. It was that the crowd roared with cheers as Mars stepped out of the tunnel on his side of the arena and stood ready to fight. "Here is Mars, our first competitor!" Oobleck declared from the announcer's booth. "He's a former member of the satellite seven, and the master of the Telekinetic Creation semblance!"

"Idiot...he practically announced I used to be an Outlaw." Mars muttered to himself, then looked at Ozpin. "I got a good idea where he got the information...damn you old man, gossiping about my past."

"And now here comes his opponents!" Oobleck then announced, as he was informed of the other two being ready to go.

Music: https/youtu.be/m6kb96YWXMA [Fairy Tail OST- Main Theme]

A black coat. A white coat.

"You two! Good luck!" Jim cheered, all of the others cheering with him.

A black, fingerless glove. A metal hand.

"Here it is...our battle." Mars said to himself, laying his eyes upon his opponents.

Jet black hair. Messy brown hair.

The mysterious man raised his head, sensing the tension in the air.

A pitch black gaze. An eyepatch.

"These three really might be the strongest Beacon has." Ozpin commented, noticing the mysterious mans sudden interest.

Four boots hit the ground and come to a standstill.

"There's no way they'll lose!" Ruby said to herself in reassurance.

"IT'S CONNOR AND KANE!" Came the unbelievably loud announcement.

As the crowd went wild for Beacon's favourite pair, Kane and Connor stood next to each other dramatically staring at Mars. They determination in their eyes was fierce, even Mars could see that they were dead serious.

"Now that they're on the battlefield..." Oobleck said into his microphone. "Start the match!"

Volume 3, Ending 2

Ending Music: https/youtu.be/QIG4_FLvRb0 [Naruto S ED 33]

Hitori janai yo! Osoreru mono nante nai kara!

(Shows Damien at night)

Ikou

(Damien smiles)

saa aa

(Damien raises his hand) me o akete!

(Rocks float in the air behind him) Butsukatte ita hontou wa

(Shows Damien and Daryl reaching out for each other)

oitsukitakute!

(Damien and Daryl clash swords then Murlough stabs Damien in the back)

Kizu

(Shows Damien's sword in the ground)

tsukeatte

(Shows Damien on many battlefields standing over dead bodies)

tsunagitomeru kizuna hoshikute! (Shows the Outlaws fighting people)

Gomen wasure

(Shows Damien meeting Brook and then meeting Murlough)

naide

(Shows members of the Outlaws dying in front of Damien)

Shinjite

(Shows Damien getting the Kalos Crystal)

mattete

(Shows Kane and then Connor as kids)

Mukae ni

(Shows Damien taking off his jacket and then dropping it)

ikunda!

(Damien goes into a battle pose and is surrounded by soldiers) Yuuki no tomoshibi terashidase yowasa o! Kizu datte itami

(Damien pulls out his flintlock pistols swords and starts fighting the soldiers)

datte wakeaeba

(Damien runs along a cliff edge) heiki da!

(He jumps off the cliff)

Kimi no senaka osu

(Shows Brook sharpening his hooks against each other) musunda yakusoku!

(Shows Murlough and zooms in on his eye)

Itsudatte

(Damien activated the Kalos Crystal)

haretatte!

(Kalos appears behind him sitting on the massive rune wall) Shinjiirareru

(Shows Damien as a kid)

kizuna

(Shows Daryl as a kid)

wa muni ni

(Shows Damien grown up sucking in the purple Kalos Crystal energy) nemutteru!

(Shows his eye go purple)

END


	15. Chapter 15- Fierce Battle

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 15

Fierce Battle

 **All right, I know I already said Yang Vs Connor was one of my favourites in this volume, but this one...oh boy this one is just classic. Enjoy.**

Opening Music: http/youtu.be/qBB-R7lBspc

[Fairy Tail OP 4]

(Shows the runic symbols of the Ancient Remnant Tomes)

(Shows Kane)

(Shows Mars)

(Shows Jim)

(Shows Ruby)

(Shows Connor)

(Shows Team KALOS)

(OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS) (Shows Beacon)

YO HO kaji o kire tori kaji ippai de! YO HO uosao

(Shows Team JNPR inside the Beacon sparring arena cheering) ikina jinsei!

(Shows Team RWBY and Ozpin cheering)

(Shows Team KALOS cheering) (Shows Team KALOS standing on the cliff of Beacon)

Hi ga ochiru

(Zooms in Connor's eye) koro ni wa (Pans over Team KALOS)

shukko no utage!

(Shows Damien on top of a tree, wearing a cloth make over his face) Sabishiku nanka nai iki

(An apparition of Daryl appears behind Damien)

terya mata

(Damien jumps down from the tree and runs towards Beacon)

dokka de aeru!

(Shows Kane pull out his scythes and summon up dark clouds) Mukaikaze buchi nuki

(Shows Jim next to Yang, Yang blushes and looks away)

tabidate!

(Shows Connor and Kane go back to back as Mars' shield surrounds them)

Namida namida kareru made (Shows Mars standing on a telekinetic platform above them) otokonara tsuyogatte!

(Shows Irileth flip in the air and summon up her purple crows) Tomo yo tomo yo

(Stephane takes out all the purple crows with his blade)

itsu no hi ka

(Shows Connor punch at Mars) warette!

(Mars blocks the punch and hits back, sending Connor flying)

Katai katai

(Kane fires a dark cloud arrow at Mars)

kizuna

(Mars dodges back then jumps up) o sa tashikame

(Mars fires balls of green energy at them)

aeru

(Kane fires black clouds from his hands)

yo ni

(Connor jumps over Kane's head and fires light from his hands)

Ima

(Shows Yang)

kagayaki dasu

(Yang activates her semblance and fire appears)

mirai no chizu o sa tsukami tore!

(Shows Ozpin signalling the start of a sparring match)

(Shows Irileth attacking with her whips)

(Shows Jim running with his boomerangs in his hands)

(Shows Damien walking into the Beacon entrance hall)

(Shows Mars go into Mystic State)

(Connor and Kane throw punches at him)

END

Volume 3, Ending 2

Play Music: http/youtu.be/PYq7Z4nuPVc

[Fairy Tail OST- Gekitou Mahoujin]

The moment the announcement to start the match came, Kane and Connor sprung into their battle pose. They both held their hands behind them, their fingertips barely touching, and began to build up aura in between the cups of their hands. Black clouds and golden light collected together in between their hands, fusing and pulsing with energy. Within a few seconds, a ball of dark clouds with light shining through the cracks had formed in their palms, ready to be fired.

All the while, Mars simply stated straight at them, not moving to make the first attack. They had predicted he would be like this, waiting for them to strike first rather than charging in full throttle. Even so, his expression angered them. He just stood there with his arms crossed, not remotely concerned about the coming blast.

Their faces turning to angry frowns, Connor and Kane then gritted their teeth and hoped for their attack to work, before flinging their arms forward simultaneously. As they did so the cluster of power in between the two of them pulsed and wobbled, until they together cried out, "Darklight Cannon!"

As they yelled their attack, the darklight they held blasted outwards, expanding into a massive beam of darklight, surging with overwhelming power. As the crowd was lost for words at the spectacle, the blast hit Mars head on, his figure disappearing in the middle of it. The blast continued for a few more seconds, then dissipated as Connor and Kane stood panting, having used up a great deal of aura.

[Stop Music]

The path that the blast had taken had created a trail like wreckage in the ground, like a plane had crashed there and skidded along the ground. The air filled with dust thrown up by the impact, the audience and Connor and Kane all waiting to see what had happened to Mars. As the dust clouds began to clear, the crowd was shocked into a terrifying silence, Connor and Kane staring in disbelief at the result of their attack.

It had done absolutely nothing.

Mars stood where he had stood before, his arms still crossed, the same look on his face. Kane's and Connor's eyes widened as they reused their attacked had been completely ineffective. The entirety of the audience was shocked into silence, staring in disbelief at Mars' undamaged form.

"You'll have to do a lot better than that." Mars commented dryly, keeping his composure and still staring straight at his opponents. "A straight up attack like that was easy to stop."

"Stop?!" Connor mumbled confusedly, desperately trying to think of what to do next. "He stopped that attack?! How?!"

"He doesn't even have a scratch on him..." Kane noted, hunching over slightly, feeling the effect of using so much aura at once. As he tried to straighten himself up, Connor fell to his knees, visibly more affected by the massive drain on his aura than Kane. "Connor!" Kane called out.

"I'm alright..." Connor assured his battle partner, rising to one knee and trying to rise even more, but being heavily affected by the amount of energy he's used.

"They used a great chunk of their aura reserves on that attack and now they're feeling the effects of such a drain." The mysterious man sat next to Ozpin in the stands commented, having started to take more interest in the battle below. "I doubt they've got enough energy left to carry on fighting for much longer, it's over." He then looked down at his feet, no longer interested as he was almost completely sure of the outcome of the fight.

"I wouldn't give up on them so hastily if I were you." Ozpin advised him, drawing attention back to the battlefield. "Just look at them." The mystery man did as Ozpin told him and found himself surprised.

Play Music: http/youtu.be/EWZrkO5jETU

[Naruto OST- Gekiha]

Connor had not only risen to his feet, but was standing confidently, staring down Mars with a cocky grin. Kane was just to the right of him, with the same stance and a silent but stern stare. Even Mars looked surprised at their resilience, raising his eyebrow at them. "Kane...you good?" Connor questioned, not taking his eyes off his mentor for a second.

Kane let out a small smile, just a small one, but a cocky one too. "Hell yeah." He replied, cracking his black gloved knuckles in preparation.

"Then let's go." Connor then said to him and without even a second of hesitation, the two of them shot towards Mars with lightning speed. When they reached him, the fight really got started.

Connor threw a punch at Mars, using his momentum to power it, which Mars avoided by leaning slightly to the side. Before he had time to strike back however, Kane was on his other side with a punch of his own. Knowing he didn't have time to move, Mars grabbed Kane's fist and held it there. Connor took advantage of this and threw another punch, forcing Mars to grab his shirt. Following that, he tossed Connor over in Kane's direction whilst stepping away from the two of them, distancing himself from the fight. Connor hit Kane in a mess of limbs, but they reacted quickly, their feet finding the ground and stabilising their balance. Seeing Mars stepping back, Kane quickly summoned up dark clouds in his hand and shot them towards Mars, creating a mighty boom when they impacted the ground he had been standing on.

Emerging from the clouds, Mars jumped high into the air, unharmed once again by the assault. Kane didn't let up though, he fired another ball of cluster of dark clouds at Mars whilst he was still in mid air, creating another loud crashing sound and vibrations up above. Mars then emerged from the clouds unscathed once again and landed with his knees bent, only to be hit head on with one last load of of Kane's semblance, the air filling with dust from the impact.

Once the dust died down again, Mars was still unhurt, but his two opponents still weren't done with him. Next Connor leaped towards him through the air, having activated his semblance much quicker than ever before, golden light now enveloping his forearms and trailing off behind him as he jumped. Connor thrust his fist forward, Mars only just having time to bring up his arms over his chest to block the punch but pushed back by it all the same.

Connor still didn't let up, he threw more punches at Mars, relentlessly attacking over and over, trying to whittle down Mars' arms and break through. By this point the forearms of the sleeves of Mars' cloak were in tatters, ripped apart by Connor's golden light semblance. Connor then pulled back for a moment, shouting unintelligibly and preparing for a harder punch. This time he had attacked, Mars' fist impacted with his, and a massive bright light filled the arena, followed by a bang and a cloud dust. Connor and Mars emerged from either side of the dust, sliding back from the strength of each other's blows and squatting down to quickly recover.

[Stop Music]

Quick as a flash, both Connor and Kane were racing towards Mars again, intent on continuing their barrage of attacks. Mars however, had had enough of it. He charged up his aura, crackling green energy building up in his hands, then punched forward into the air. The green energy shot outwards, splitting in two directions. Connor and Kane were both in in the chest by the blasts, which sent them flying back across the arena. They both landed on their backs, wincing from their wounds, as the crowd once was once again shocked into silence.

"That was a powerful blast..." Jim worryingly commented, the others looking just as concerned as him. "In all the time I spent looking for Damien with him, he never used anything like that."

"That suggests he was hiding it, like a last resort." Stephane added, analysing the damage and trying to guess if Kane and Connor would get back up. "Now that he's shown it, it means he's serious about not holding back."

"Oh!" Oobleck cried from the announcers box upon seeing Kane and Connor helpless on the ground. "Mars knocked them both down with one strike! Will they be able to rise back up after this?"

"I really don't like the way Ooblecks commentating!" Yang complained, clenching her fists. "Connor fought well against me, he can do the same here."

Connor stayed on the ground however, gasping for air. The strike to the chest had winded him, and he wouldn't be able to get back up before he had regulated his breathing. Kane was in a similar predicament, but as expected was having an easier time dealing with it than Connor and would probably be up again soon.

"Are you done already?" Mars taunted, crossing his arms again, showing his causal attitude towards his opponents. "I expected more from you than this. You were able fire off a number of impressive attacks at me, but I thought you'd be able to stand more than one blast of my telekinetic energy."

It was then that Kane rose alone. He pushed himself up, breathing heavily but still able to keep going. Connor remained on the ground, looking at Kane standing proudly and feeling ashamed that he couldn't help, but not being able to move his body.

Play Music: http/youtu.be/bB_Qpt7TqLM

[Fairy Tail OST- Kurogane]

"Don't underestimate me, old man." Kane taunted back, wiping the dirt from his face with his sleeve. "I've got a lot more power than what I've shown so far, you know it."

"Then show me!" Mars shouted back him, in way of motivation. Kane responded readily, his hands becoming covered in large dark clouds as he charged.

For the next few minutes, the crowd watched in awe as Kane and Mars' semblances crashed together in a display of might. Kane's dark clouds rushed into the green energy covering Mars hands, creating massive bangs every time they impacted. The two of them skirted around the arena, closing in on each other to smash their semblances against each other, then backing off and circling around before coming in again. From the stands the battle was a majestic show of power, seen only by the high up crowd as a trail of dark clouds and a trail of green energy speeding around the arena, smashing into each every few seconds. Neither of them let up or showed any sign of weakness, they kept going, repeatedly ramming into each other and creating massive bangs. Connor stayed on the ground, still unable to move, watching Kane proudly.

After a few minutes of this, Kane backed off to one end of the arena whilst Mars stood at the other. Kane held his hands together by his side, crying out as he charged up a super powerful charge of dark clouds in them. Mars saw it coming and held out his hands in front of him, the green energy forming a wall between him and Kane. Both sides fired their respective semblances at each other, each of them putting all their strength into it. After a few seconds Mars frowned as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. Seeing this, Kane put more power into his side side of the blast, creating a storm of raging dark clouds, one last hit to finish the battle.

Kane was surprised to see Mars' expression change into a smirk. Suddenly, the green wall which Kane's dark clouds were barrelling into let out a shockwave that shook the arena floor and sent a gust of wind flying past Kane as his dark clouds were blown away, his long black coat flapping behind him in the gust. The shockwave quickly became powerful enough to lift Kane off the ground and throw him high into the air, however he didn't lose his balance. He straightened himself out in midair and held his arms out to his sides for his next attack.

The next thing Mars knew, the sky above him was filled with dark clouds, which gathered in circle shaped clusters around Kane. There were at least twenty of the clusters in all, every single one of them raging with Kane's last iota of power. As the clusters start to pulse and expand, Kane cried out, "Dark Rain!" He then swung his arms out in front of him and as he did so the clusters shot columns of dark clouds like meteors down at where Mars stood.

As Mars collected his energy to bring up another shield, the meteor like clusters of dark clouds smashed into the ground around him one after another, each one creating a shockwave that sent more dark clouds sprawling all across the battlefield, completely enveloping him. When the last cluster hit, the combined force of all of them created a massive explosion of the dark clouds, Kane observing as he fell back down to ground level and landed perfectly on his feet.

[Stop Music]

As soon as he did, the crowd went wild, erupting into cheers. Mars was still hidden a massive cloud of dust and slowly fading dark clouds, but no one doubted even for a second that Kane had beaten him.

"Yes! That's my Kane!" Irileth happily yelled, unable to hold in her emotions, waving her arms in the air in celebration. "I knew you could do it!"

"Uh...your Kane?" Jim commented, wondering what had gone on between the two that he hadn't heard about.

"Shh, you'll ruin the mood." Yang ordered him, lightly elbowing his side as Irileth continued to cheer for her childhood friend.

Ruby smiled joyfully at the scene, happy that it had been settled before Connor had gotten too hurt, but also hoping Mars was alright after being barraged by such a powerful attack. She dropped her smile however when she looked over to Connor, who had rolled over onto his front unnoticed and was smiling at Kane, looking extremely exhausted. She hoped he would be alright as well.

"That was some very impressive power." The mystery man commented, not hiding the fact he had been enthralled by the fight. "Kane was strong from what I remember, but I never thought he'd improve to this sort of level."

"Indeed." Ozpin agreed, feeling immensely proud of the two he had taken in all those months ago. "I'd even go as far as to say he now outranks his brother in terms of power."

By the time the crowd had started to die down, having taken in the events of the last few minutes, the dust clouds around Mars had almost completely disappeared. The last small bit of dust was blown away, revealing what remained of Mars after the attack.

While his green cloak was torn beyond repair, his body was bruised all over, Mars still stood. The audience was in silence once again as they saw him stood there, slightly hunched and holding one arm, but still on his feet. "Damn, that was almost it. Good thing I got my shield up just in time." Mars said, standing up a little straighter to look Kane in the eye.

"Impossible! He blocked that?!" Irileth exclaimed, a hint of worry audible in her voice as Kane stared back at Mars, weak and shaking from using up so much aura in one attack.

"Most of it, I'd say." Stephane added, pointing out the condition Mars was in. "Despite using his shield he didn't come out of it unscathed."

"Kane..." Connor muttered weakly, trying to push himself up but ultimately falling back down on his stomach before he even got to his knees.

"You've really put your all into this, I can tell." Mars said to Kane, throwing away his cloak and then setting to work unbuttoning the pale green shirt underneath. "I suppose it's only fair that I do the same...so here I come."

Kane stood frozen still as Mars continued to open up his shirt. He couldn't believe Mars still wasn't done yet, that he still had something up his sleeve. Kane couldn't move however, he was too low on aura to make an effective escape or to attack pre-emptively.

Once Mars shirt was fully undone, he stood there for a moment staring down Kane, his chest muscles on display to all the crowd. "Sorry to do this to you, but I said I wouldn't hold back." He told Kane as he charged up green energy in his hands, which then moved up his arms and across his chest.

"Mystic State!" He cried when the green crackling energy had covered his body completely, giving him a powerful green airs surrounding him. His eyes had also turned pure green, the whole eyes, the pupils gone. The green energy was radiating from his entire body, a terrifying amount of power around him.

The next thing Kane knew, Mars was punching his belly hard without mercy, the green energy powering the punch and shocking Kane. The force of the hit sent him flying back across the arena, his back scraping across the ground and creating a trail as he went, as if a plane had crash landed there. When all the noise created from the attack died down, Kane laid on the ground motionless and unconscious.

"Kane!" Irileth cried out to her fallen friend as the crowd cheered in Mars' favour. Although Irileth and the others hoped Kane would get up and keep fighting, he didn't. Mars' strongest attack yet had knocked him out cold.

"That's that then." Mars stated before sighing, slightly disappointed. "I had hoped you'd be able to be to take a hit from me in Mystic State and keep going, but I guess it's too much for you."

It was then that the sound of a fist smacking the ground was heard. Mars turned round, the green energy still blazing around him, and saw Connor. He had risen to one knee whilst watching the other two fight and was kneeling with one fist on the ground, having just punched downwards. The golden light had returned to his forearms and was now starting to orbit around him just like when he had fought Yang.

"I almost forgot you were here." Mars joked, turning his full attention towards Connor as he struggled to push himself up more. "I assumed you were down for the count."

"After seeing you do that to Kane..." Connor responded, finally pushing himself to his feet and staring down Mars once again as he winced slightly, feeling his bruises. The audience looked on in silence, anticipating what he would say next. Ruby held her hands, praying he'd be alright to continue and wishing for his victory.

He then raised his fist in front of his face, the golden energy sparkling luminously, and said, "I'm fired up!"

Mars grinned cheerfully at the remark, admiring his former students fighting spirit, and declared, "Come! Let's fight until one of us drops!"

Ending Music: https/youtu.be/QIG4_FLvRb0 [Naruto S ED 33]

Hitori janai yo! Osoreru mono nante nai kara!

(Shows Damien at night)

Ikou

(Damien smiles)

saa aa

(Damien raises his hand) me o akete!

(Rocks float in the air behind him) Butsukatte ita hontou wa

(Shows Damien and Daryl reaching out for each other)

oitsukitakute!

(Damien and Daryl clash swords then Murlough stabs Damien in the back)

Kizu

(Shows Damien's sword in the ground)

tsukeatte

(Shows Damien on many battlefields standing over dead bodies)

tsunagitomeru kizuna hoshikute! (Shows the Outlaws fighting people)

Gomen wasure

(Shows Damien meeting Brook and then meeting Murlough)

naide

(Shows members of the Outlaws dying in front of Damien)

Shinjite

(Shows Damien getting the Kalos Crystal)

mattete

(Shows Kane and then Connor as kids)

Mukae ni

(Shows Damien taking off his jacket and then dropping it)

ikunda!

(Damien goes into a battle pose and is surrounded by soldiers) Yuuki no tomoshibi terashidase yowasa o! Kizu datte itami

(Damien pulls out his flintlock pistols swords and starts fighting the soldiers)

datte wakeaeba

(Damien runs along a cliff edge) heiki da!

(He jumps off the cliff)

Kimi no senaka osu

(Shows Brook sharpening his hooks against each other) musunda yakusoku!

(Shows Murlough and zooms in on his eye)

Itsudatte

(Damien activated the Kalos Crystal)

haretatte!

(Kalos appears behind him sitting on the massive rune wall) Shinjiirareru

(Shows Damien as a kid)

kizuna

(Shows Daryl as a kid)

wa muni ni

(Shows Damien grown up sucking in the purple Kalos Crystal energy) nemutteru!

(Shows his eye go purple)

END


	16. Chapter 16- Connor Against Mars

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 16

Connor Against Mars

 **All righty, here's the finale to this fight, and also the finale to this section of volume 3. The next chapter will have new opening and ending music, and will be exploring a new part of the storyline. Things are gonna get serious, as the legend of Titan Aura is revealed!**

Opening Music: http/youtu.be/qBB-R7lBspc

[Fairy Tail OP 4]

(Shows the runic symbols of the Ancient Remnant Tomes)

(Shows Kane)

(Shows Mars)

(Shows Jim)

(Shows Ruby)

(Shows Connor)

(Shows Team KALOS)

(OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS) (Shows Beacon)

YO HO kaji o kire tori kaji ippai de! YO HO uosao

(Shows Team JNPR inside the Beacon sparring arena cheering) ikina jinsei!

(Shows Team RWBY and Ozpin cheering)

(Shows Team KALOS cheering) (Shows Team KALOS standing on the cliff of Beacon)

Hi ga ochiru

(Zooms in Connor's eye) koro ni wa (Pans over Team KALOS)

shukko no utage!

(Shows Damien on top of a tree, wearing a cloth make over his face) Sabishiku nanka nai iki

(An apparition of Daryl appears behind Damien)

terya mata

(Damien jumps down from the tree and runs towards Beacon)

dokka de aeru!

(Shows Kane pull out his scythes and summon up dark clouds) Mukaikaze buchi nuki

(Shows Jim next to Yang, Yang blushes and looks away)

tabidate!

(Shows Connor and Kane go back to back as Mars' shield surrounds them)

Namida namida kareru made (Shows Mars standing on a telekinetic platform above them) otokonara tsuyogatte!

(Shows Irileth flip in the air and summon up her purple crows) Tomo yo tomo yo

(Stephane takes out all the purple crows with his blade)

itsu no hi ka

(Shows Connor punch at Mars) warette!

(Mars blocks the punch and hits back, sending Connor flying)

Katai katai

(Kane fires a dark cloud arrow at Mars)

kizuna

(Mars dodges back then jumps up) o sa tashikame

(Mars fires balls of green energy at them)

aeru

(Kane fires black clouds from his hands)

yo ni

(Connor jumps over Kane's head and fires light from his hands)

Ima

(Shows Yang)

kagayaki dasu

(Yang activates her semblance and fire appears)

mirai no chizu o sa tsukami tore!

(Shows Ozpin signalling the start of a sparring match)

(Shows Irileth attacking with her whips)

(Shows Jim running with his boomerangs in his hands)

(Shows Damien walking into the Beacon entrance hall)

(Shows Mars go into Mystic State)

(Connor and Kane throw punches at him)

END

Play Music: http/youtu.be/4HlwLq4cQXg

[Fairy Tail OST- Fire Dragon VS Flame God]

Mars fired another bolt of green energy from his fist, his entire body still surrounded by it, radiating with a powerful aura. Connor dodged ever so slightly to the side, feeling the burst of energy whizz past the side of his side, his hair flapping in it's gust. Connor then gasped as Mars shot forward, getting s good view of his completely green and glowing eyes, an threw a hard punch towards him just like he had done to knock out Kane. Connor launched himself backwards with his legs, getting out of reach of Mar's punch. He followed up though, he kept throwing the punches powered by the green energy, Connor struggling to maintain distance. He knew if he took just one direct hit he'd be finished, he just needed to keep on his toes.

So a spectacle took place consisting of Mars punching towards Connor and Connor dodging away, desperately trying to avoid being hit. From the stands all was seen was the dashing green energy of Mars skirting around the arena, and the brilliant golden light on Connor's forearms retreating.

"They're going so fast, it's hard to see what's going on." Jim commented, trying to make sense of the light show taking place on the battlefield.

"Connor probably knows that a hit from Mars right now would be the end of him, so he's doing his best to avoid all his attacks." Stephane theorised, expertly analysing the battle.

"He got back up and he's still able to move that fast..." The mystery man seated with Ozpin muttered in disbelief, now taking quite a sizeable interest in the battle below.

Ozpin let out a smile upon hearing that from the mystery man, then added, "That's the power Connor holds within him! The power of a dragon!"

After a couple of minutes of the back and forth attacks, Connor drew back his golden light enveloped fist and charged up a larger load of power in it, the light building up and shining even more brilliantly. Mars did the same with his hand, the green energy pulsing and crackling with power. The two of them then charged forward with their fists, the two of them bumping together and their semblances exploding against each other in a brilliant light.

The audience gasped in awe as the arena with filled with an amazing multicoloured light. As the two combatants pushed their fists against each other, golden light exploded outwards from one side and green energy out of the other, their clothes and hair flapping around in the winds the force of the attacks was creating. Connor frowned competitively at Mars, wanting to try his hardest to win and willing to put all his power into doing it. Mars simply looked coolly back at him, only letting out a smug smirk, as if still of his victory.

Just as if he'd been putting in minimal effort until this point, Mars pumped more power into his fist, so much that the green energy broke through Connors attack and knocked him backwards into the air. Twisting his body as he flew through mid-air, Connor aimed a hand at the ground and fired a ray of his golden light down at it. The force of the ray pushed him in the opposite direction through the air, towards Mars.

Mars, who had not seen such an attack coming, was caught off guard by Connor's sudden approach. As Connor descended, he planted his foot on Mars' face and used it to bounce and land behind him. He then quickly turned and threw a hard but fast punch as Mars while he was still disoriented. Mars was knocked back onto the ground, but Connor didn't let up. He jumped up to get an aerial attack on Mars, charging what he suspected could be the very last of his aura into his hand, and landed on Mars with a hard punch. The hit created a large bang and sent dust flying into the air, masking what had happened to Mars after the attack for a short amount of time.

[Stop Music]

Rising out of the cloud of dust, Mars then hit Connor with an uppercutting punch, sending him onto his back. Mars then took a few steps away, maintaining a safe distance from his opponent, as the crowd looked and wondered if that was it.

To everyone's surprise however, Connor quickly got back up onto his feet, the only damage he had retained from the attack being a bruised and slightly bloody chin. On closer observation, the spectators saw that the green energy that not seconds ago had been surrounding Mars' body was now gone, his eyes also reverted back to normal.

"Running low on aura huh?" Connor teased, wiping blood off of his battered chin with the back of his hand whilst standing slightly hunched over and breathing a little irregularly. "What exactly is that Mystic State thing you used?"

Mars chuckled at Connor's curiosity while standing just the same way, knowing that he was probably wondering if he could get that sort of strength. "I'll have to explain it to you some time...but not right now." He tiredly replied, feeling the drain on his aura levels. "Speaking of aura though, you can't be doing so good yourself."

Play Music: http/youtu.be/gxGDEHf9Y2I

[Fairy Tail OST- Bucks Thieves]

"Ah, I've got plenty more where all that came from, old man!" Connor cheekily retorted, standing up a little straighter despite his bruises and getting into a battle pose.

"Don't call me old, you juvenile!" Mars snapped back playfully, before charging head on at his opponent once again.

The two then resumed their bout as the audience watched in captivation, throwing punches one after the other. The pairs skills matched each other, each of them either dodging or blocking the others hits, not taking any direct damage.

"Whoa look at 'em go!" Yang excitedly exclaimed, getting fired up seeing the two go at it so valiantly.

"Connor's got this!" Irileth cheered, completely forgetting Kane being knocked out on the floor not too far from the raging battle.

Ruby had been watching the match silently for a long time, holding her hands against her chest hoping Connor would come out the other side alright. Hearing her friends cheering Connor on behind her however, she found it impossible to remain silent any longer. She let out a small, cute smile as Connor looked in her direction mid-fight, whilst backing away from a left hook punch. Ruby opened her mouth to speak just as he smiled back at her.

"Connor! I believe in you!"

Spurred on by Ruby's passionate words of encouragement, Connor brought his left arm round quicker than even Mars could anticipate and smashed it into the side of his old mentors jaw. Seeing this comeback, Ruby felt tears at the edges of her eyes, but not because she was sad or upset, because she was so happy he was winning. The rest of the group behind her went crazy cheering as Connor landed the hit, the expression on Mars' face making it clear to see he was hurt.

[Stop Music]

Mars didn't stop his attack though, his left hook punch kept coming, aiming right for Connor's face. Connor tried to move out of the way to dodge, but then came to a dreadful realisation.

He was all out of aura.

He couldn't move, his aura being gone had rendered him immobile. Hunters desperately need their aura in battle not just for their semblance, but to stay on their feet and to shield them. Once someone's reserves hit rock bottom, their body would seize up and all they'd be able to do is lay there defeated. This is exactly what had happened to Connor, he couldn't move at all.

Mars kept coming despite the blow to his jaw and hit Connor in his face, knocking him back and down to the ground, where he lay unmoving. The crowd was shocked into silence by the sudden happening, surprised that after all the valour he had shown, Connor had gone down so easily.

"Looks like he's completely drained, he can't even move let alone get up." The mysterious man noted, Ozpin staring down worryingly at Connor's immobile form.

"End of the line..." Stephane muttered, looking down at his feet and ignoring the battle, believing it to be over.

"Don't talk like that!" Jim snapped at him, even though deep down he knew that what Stephane was saying was reality. Without aura, Connor was finished. Ruby knew it too, looking down on the battle solemnly.

"I win...Connor..." Mars declared, breathing heavily from the exhaustion of the fight. It had been a while since he'd fought so hard and it had affected him poorly. "I hope I didn't...hurt you too much...but I said I wouldn't hold back...and I kept my promise."

A tear fell from Ruby's eye.

Seeing it out of the corner of his eye, Connor immediately placed his hands on the ground next to him and tried to push himself up. He pushed with all his might, his arms wobbling as he did so, but he couldn't do it. He kept trying however, he didn't want to give up.

"Stop pushing yourself so hard!" Mars aggressively ordered him. "If you keep going when your aura's all gone, you'll die!"

Straining himself to even speak, Connor weakly replied, "I don't care if I get hurt, as long as I win...because I'm not fighting for myself." As Mars eyes then widened at Connor's excuse, he pushed harder, his bruised body shaking under the pressure he was exerting on it. Still, he got to his knees, putting in all his remaining energy to stand.

Despite his efforts however, he fell over again, this time landing on his front. Wincing from his bruises, he closed his eyes to try to diminish the pain and said, "I'm not fighting for myself...you may think I'm fighting for my friends...and you'd be partly right..."

Mars looked on in shock and disbelief as Connor rose to one knee despite his condition. All the time he was pushing himself up his body was shaking, the bruises wearing him. When he got to one knee, he crossed his arms over his stomach, feeling a painful throb from there.

"Mostly however..." He continued, still with his eyes closed to dull the pain, and now gritting his teeth too. "Mostly, I fight for her, for Ruby."

By this point in his speech, Ruby was silently weeping, tears streaming down her face as she blushed and looked down on Connor. Connor himself was beginning to be surrounded by the golden light his semblance again, it concentrating around his forearms.

"How?!" Mars exclaimed in disbelief, not knowing how else to react. "Where is all this aura coming from? You were all out all out just a minute ago!"

As the light formed sharp, golden, shark fin-like shapes on his forearms, Connor rose two both feet with renewed determination and declared, "I won't make Ruby cry again!" He then charged at Mars, and in a split second slashed past him with the sharp shapes on his arms while yelling, "Golden Dragon Wings!"

The crowd then broke into cheer as Mars clutched his stomach, still standing but in pain. He looked behind him expecting to see Connor standing triumphantly, but that was not what he laid his eyes on. Connor was hunched over, the golden light having completely faded once again. He fell over for a third time, hitting the ground hard and it was clear to everyone that he was truly unconscious this time around.

"Umm...Mars is the victor!" Oobleck announced from the private viewing box, unsure even himself of whether Connor was really down. Unfortunately though, he was knocked out cold, he had lost.

The crowd cheered in Mars favour, not caring that Connor had lost, only having wanted to see a good match. Connor's friends in the stands was silent, bewildered by the result of the fight. Ruby wasn't crying, but held her hands tightly against her chest, remembering what Connor had said before going down.

He didn't want to make Ruby cry again, so she wouldn't. She promised herself that.

Volume 3, Ending 2

Ending Music: https/youtu.be/QIG4_FLvRb0 [Naruto S ED 33]

Hitori janai yo! Osoreru mono nante nai kara!

(Shows Damien at night)

Ikou

(Damien smiles)

saa aa

(Damien raises his hand) me o akete!

(Rocks float in the air behind him) Butsukatte ita hontou wa

(Shows Damien and Daryl reaching out for each other)

oitsukitakute!

(Damien and Daryl clash swords then Murlough stabs Damien in the back)

Kizu

(Shows Damien's sword in the ground)

tsukeatte

(Shows Damien on many battlefields standing over dead bodies)

tsunagitomeru kizuna hoshikute! (Shows the Outlaws fighting people)

Gomen wasure

(Shows Damien meeting Brook and then meeting Murlough)

naide

(Shows members of the Outlaws dying in front of Damien)

Shinjite

(Shows Damien getting the Kalos Crystal)

mattete

(Shows Kane and then Connor as kids)

Mukae ni

(Shows Damien taking off his jacket and then dropping it)

ikunda!

(Damien goes into a battle pose and is surrounded by soldiers) Yuuki no tomoshibi terashidase yowasa o! Kizu datte itami

(Damien pulls out his flintlock pistols swords and starts fighting the soldiers)

datte wakeaeba

(Damien runs along a cliff edge) heiki da!

(He jumps off the cliff)

Kimi no senaka osu

(Shows Brook sharpening his hooks against each other) musunda yakusoku!

(Shows Murlough and zooms in on his eye)

Itsudatte

(Damien activated the Kalos Crystal)

haretatte!

(Kalos appears behind him sitting on the massive rune wall) Shinjiirareru

(Shows Damien as a kid)

kizuna

(Shows Daryl as a kid)

wa muni ni

(Shows Damien grown up sucking in the purple Kalos Crystal energy) nemutteru!

(Shows his eye go purple)

END


	17. Chapter 17- Legend of the Titans

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 17

Legend of the Titans

 **All right, here's where things get really interesting. This is the start of what I like to call the Four Generals Arc. This is the OG major conflict in the story, the beginning of the translation into much cooler and more awesome fights. There's a new opening and ending for this chapter, as well as a story about the beginning of the world of Remnant in this chapter, so enjoy! More to come soon!**

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/jOz5mHKWaQ8 [GATE OP 1]

(Music starts)

(Note: Characters listed next show up at the same time as the letters in the video)

(Shows Yang)

(Shows Jim)

(Shows Irileth)

(Shows Kane)

(Shows Mars)

(Shows Damien)

(Shows Ruby)

(Shows Connor)

(Quickly shows the letters of the title)

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS (Shows Connor walking down the corridor of Beacon)

Toku ni nani mo nozomu koto (Connor looks behind him)

nante nai!

(Ruby is behind him)

Minihodo wa shite

(She smiles at him) iru sa!

(Yang comes out of her room) Sonna boku de sae mo

(She pretends to be grumpy but let's out a small smile)

oku no hou ni!

(Shows Irileth in the arena facing away)

Yuzuritakunai

(She spins around and faces forward)

ikou geedo wa

(Attacks with her dual energy whips)

arurashii!

(Shows Stephane walking away from the arena)

Mamorutte angai to

(He scowls angrily)

muzukashii ne!

(Shows Mars raising his fist into the air)

Aki-

(Shows Kane charging into battle) -ra-

(Shows Jim punching with his metal arm)

-meru

(Shows combat air ships leaving Beacon) wake ja nai kedo!

(The air ships arrive at the naval platform)

Aoi sora no hate

(Everyone jumps down from the air ships and lands on the naval platform)

tsunagatta machi no yukue

(They walk towards the soldiers) Kitto teki to wakari

(The soldiers fire at them)

aenai

(The team fires their semblances) dakedo

(Their semblances take out the soldiers)

iin ja nai!

(Shows Mars using Mystic State) Hirata tobira wa

(Shows Kane surrounded by dark clouds)

subete o kaete

(Shows Jim's muscles growing stronger)

yuku!

(Shows Daryl standing on the roof watching the battle)

Sora no akatsuki no you ni!

(Shows Michael in flying around in his dragon exo-suit)

Oh wow wow! (Shows Michelle teleport behind Irileth and Kane and swing her twin-blade at them) Oh wow wow!

(Shows Wolf slicing at Jim, Yang and Stephane with his claws)

Oh wow wow!

(Shows Jorge firing a chain gun at Mars and Damien)

Oh wow wow!

(Shows Mars, Connor, Jim and Kane trying to push a tank back) Oh wow wow!

(Shows Michael, Michelle, Wolf and Jorge)

(Shows Mars and Damien)

(Shows Yang, Jim and Stephane) (Shows Kane and Irileth)

(Shows Connor and Ruby)

(Shows them all cheering in a line)

The door of Team Kalos' room opened roughly, hitting the wall so hard the hinges almost broke. Out of the now open doorway came Connor, who now fully healed from his fight against Mars, rushed into the corridor excitedly.

"Alright, I'm ready for the tournament!" Connor exclaimed energetically, punching the air in front of him in enthusiasm as he hopped around in the hall, unable to contain his feeling of raw excitement. "I've lost two matches in a row, but now it's for me to kick ass and show you all how strong I am!"

Coming out of the doorway after him, Jim and Kane edged around to avoid getting hit as Connor continued to thrust his fists into the air and dodge imaginary attacks, Jim impressed the the enthusiasm and Kane silent and slightly grumpy looking as always.

"If you come at someone like that, you'll surely win." Jim commented, secretly a little worried of being matched up against his teammate in later rounds. "Your really energetic despite getting your ass beaten by Mars a couple of days ago."

"This time I won't go down so easy!" Connor valiantly announced, taking a pause from fighting his imaginary opponent and grinning widely back at his teammates. "I'll show them all!"

"I wouldn't say you went down easy against Mars anyway." Kane stated in his usual dull voice. However it wasn't his voice that made both Jim and Connor look confusedly in his direction, more so what he had said.

"Wow, you actually gave me a compliment...maybe you're changing for the better Kane." Connor responded in surprise, calming down for a moment to take it in. He quickly went back to his usual grinning self though, and wittingly teased back, "Or you're just sore about going down before me!"

"Shut up!" Kane snapped back, further solidifying Connor's claim.

"You fellows look ready for a rumble, don't you now?" A voice from behind them came, prompting them to look down the corridor and see Stephane standing there, back in his causal attire. "Don't you get knocked out of the tournament too early, Jim." He said. "I've been looking forward to that match we agreed on."

Stepping closer to his new friend and rival Stephane, Jim glared back challengingly and cockily replied, "I'll smash that stone shield of yours into tiny little pebbles, just you wait."

Pushing Jim to the side in an act of unexpected enthusiasm, Kane too glared at Stephane and boldly declared, "Wait up, I want to get a go at this prick! Irileth jumped in for me last time and I didn't get to fight!"

"So I'm still a prick to you? Nice to know I'm accepted." Stephane muttered to himself, surprising the others by taking the insult lightly and chuckling out loud. "Besides, after seeing you fight Mars, I really don't want a piece."

While those three continued their conversation, Connor turned at the sound of the door to Team RWBY's room opening, and saw Yang calmly but boldly step out into the hall. Their eyes meet and she immediately adopted a cocky smile and said to him, "Glad you're up and ready to brawl, I've a hope that we'll clash again in the tournament."

"Yeah?" Connor replied, returning a smile just as cocky. "Well, it'll go differently this time, I don't intend on taking it easy. My semblance'll take you down a peg, sister."

"Don't call me sister, you brat!" Yang then reminded him, pinching is ear as punishment. A much lighter punishment than the others however, as before their fight she might have punched him.

The playful punishment didn't last long however, as upon hearing Connor's voice, Nora came bursting out of her room on the other side of the corridor and called out, "Connor!" with her hands up in the air. She then leaped onto his back before he could get out of the way and knocked him down to the ground, contently sitting on his back, humming, and running her hands through his hair, while he groaned underneath her.

It was at this most unfortunate moment that Ruby appeared out of the open doorway of her room and looked down the the sight of Nora sitting quite comfortably on her fiancé. Her face became a mixture of embarrassed blushing and slight anger at Nora for her warm actions towards Connor.

Seeing Ruby's expression, Connor used all his strength to stand up, picking Nora up with him. Once he was upright, Nora clung to him with her arms around his neck from behind, and her legs around his waist, Connor holding them so she wouldn't fall as she gleamed like a child riding on it's father's back. "Hey Rubes!" Connor greeted cheerfully, hoping to distract her attention from who was on his back, as the girl in question fidgeted and bounced around as a four year old would. "Umm...you wanna go get something to eat?"

Despite his efforts however, Ruby ignored his question and continued to pout at Nora, obviously miffed off by what she was doing. Noticing this, Connor immediately dropped Nora off of his back, much to her disappointment, and picked up Ruby in his arms. He held her with one arm under her legs and one behind her back, her hands grasping the back of his neck for support. "Miss Rose, would you kindly accompany me to the food hall, you have a date with yours truly."

Ruby blushed like mad being held in his arms, something he'd never done to her before, and slightly sheepishly replied, "Oh, I like it when you take charge like that!"

While the two of them conversed, flirting with each other as Yang watched and pouted herself, Nora had snuck back up behind Connor. Without warning she called out "Wee!" and jumped once again onto his back, he now barely able to keep his balance carrying both of them.

"Nora, I'm gonna fall over if you don't get off me!" Connor protested, pacing back and forth from his complete loss of balance.

Frowning like a grumpy child, Nora reluctantly dropped down from Connor's back, allowing him to regain his balance whilst still holding Ruby in his arms. She then moodily strolled back into her room and closed the door with a slam, making Connor feel extremely bad.

That feeling was soon whisked away however when Ruby, still in his arms and holding onto his neck, reached up and kissed him on the cheek. The two lovebirds smiled at each romantically before noticing Yang's unhappy expression. She was glaring at the two of them, looking as if she was holding back from smashing Connor in the face.

Luckily for him however, Yang somehow miraculously contained her temper and somewhat grumpily stomped past the pair on a direct line to Jim. When she reached him she was looking down at floor, hiding her face. At first Connor thought she was still trying to contain her anger, but then he noticed she was blushing and grew extremely confused.

Just as Jim was about to ask Yang what was wrong, she broke the eerie silence by grabbing him by the sleeve and dragging him down the corridor with her, the others all watching them in confusion. Once they were a ways down the corridor, Ruby sweetly smiled and said, "Those two look really good together, don't you think?"

"Those two?" Connor repeated, wondering what Ruby meant. "What do you mean 'those two'? I don't get it."

Before Ruby could explain her reasoning for thinking so, the buildings PA system rang, a voice bellowing down through the corridors. "Team Kalos and associates, report to my office for an important meeting." It didn't take everyone much time to identify to voice as Ozpin's.

Without any words amongst each other, the majority of the group started walking in the direction of Ozpin's office dutifully, as if they were dogs on leashes, being called back by their master. They knew that Ozpin called them all to his office for something he thought was important, it was usually a serious matter, and so they didn't hesitate to get on their way. After just a few seconds, Connor and Ruby were the only ones left in the corridor, Connor still carrying his fiancée.

They then stood in silence for a few seconds and then, just when Connor was about to say that they should get going, Ruby spoke. "What's the deal with you and Nora?" She muttered, prompting Connor to look at her in his arms and see her expression. He instantly felt bad upon seeing her face, she looked upset not angry, the sad kind.

"Ruby..." He mumbled to himself, trying to think of what he could say to make her feel better as she hung her head to avoid looking at him.

"She always acts so close to you...so I can't help but wonder..." Ruby continued, still muttering, Connor barely able to make out her words.

It took him a minute, but Connor figured out what she meant and hastily and a little panically replied, "No! No! It's nothing like that!" He assured her as she continued to look down bashfully. "I wouldn't do that!"

"But she acts so close to you all the time..." Ruby muttered quietly again.

"Ruby." Connor then said to her, effectively grabbing her attention and making her look back up at him, blushing a little. "I assure you, Nora doesn't see me like that, that's not the way she thinks. To her, I'm more like a playmate, a good friend that she's not afraid to be a little frisky with."

"You promise?" Ruby asked sweetly, putting a hand on his cheek and staring into his eyes as he stared back into hers.

"I promise." Connor replied, Ruby blushing a little more at his response. "You know Nora, she's a big kid. That's why she treats me the way she does, not because she likes me in that way, because she sees me as a big, walking teddy bear that she can mess around with."

Blushing more and showing a sweet smile, Ruby put her other hand on Connor's cheek as well and pulled his face a little closer to hers before saying, "I love you..." They then stood like that for a moment, mesmerised by the eternal bliss of their mutual affection, resting their foreheads against each other and staring into one another's eyes.

"Connor!" A much louder voice on the PA system yelled, snapping them out of the moment. "Get up here, you juvenile, you're making Ozpin wait!"

Both of them giggling at little at Mars' voice over the speakers, Connor then held Ruby tight and stated, "We better get going then." Before carrying her off down the corridor in the direction of Ozpin's office.

A few minutes later they came barging through the double doors of the upstairs office, Connor still carrying Ruby, and came in giggling to each other. They stopped giggling however, when they saw the very serious faces of everyone in the room and picked up a atmosphere of annoyed impatience. "You guys are buzzkills." Connor grumpily complained, putting Ruby down on her feet and adopting a slightly more formal tone. "So what's up?"

"What's up is something very serious, so watch your tone." Mars scolded, stepping in front of Connor and addressing him directly. "This is an extremely important matter, so please listen carefully."

Easily picking up the seriousness in Mars' voice, Connor immediately calmed down and stood silently. He knew that when everyone was like this, something momentous was about to be discussed.

"Perhaps now we can get started." Ozpin announced politely, putting his coffee cup to the side on his desk and leaning forward. "I've called you all here today to talk about Mars' semblance and the thing called Mystic State he used in the recent battle involving him. Now, before we continue, have you all heard of the legend of the Titans?"

Hearing that Connor and Kane showed confused and curious faces, while everyone else seemed to understand, implying they had heard the story before. Ozpin let out a slight smile and continued, "I wouldn't expect you two to know about it, having both been raised in villages far from major civilisation, so I'll tell the tale." He then adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose, leaned back in his chair to get comfortable, and began his storytelling. "The legend is about this world and it's early days. It is said that long ago, when the human race had yet to emerge and only animal life roamed the planet, there lived four Titans. Humongous, beastly creatures, capable of destroying a mountain with a flick of their tail or a whack of their fist. The runes in the ancient temples around Remnant tell that many, many centuries ago, these Titans were created by...whatever created the earth...to protect it. To save its inhabitants from natural disasters or the presence of evil life forms that might one day scour the land."

"Titans?" Connor mumbled to himself doubtfully, not sure if he believed the tale. "Great big, monstrously strong creatures? Sounds impossible."

Ignoring his disbelieving mumbles, Ozpin continued on, further expanding the story he was telling. "The runes state however, that one day came the Grimm. Beowulves, Ursa, Deathstalkers, and others that maybe we haven't yet discovered or that no longer exist. Even the Titans with all their strength could not defeat the army of monsters that had besieged their homeland, nor the force that had created them. They made a difficult decision, sealing themselves away and dispersing the last of their power in a last ditch effort to wipe out the Grimm. As is evident from the modern day, they did not succeed. When human kind was born into this world, the Grimm was there waiting for us, and the long fight against them began."

Ozpin then took a breath and picked up his coffee mug again, everyone else taking in the story so far, Connor still not sure if it was true. "My throat is parched." Ozpin causally stated, taking a sip from his coffee as if they were in a cafe and not discussing the origins of the greatest evil in the world. As he placed his cup back down on the desk, he made a content sound and said to Mars, "You make a mean cup of tea, old friend."

"Let's get back to the important matter, ok?" Mars replied, patiently waiting for the headmaster of Beacon to finish sipping from his cup.

"Yes of course." Ozpin agreed, putting his coffee down on the desk one last time. "Although they were sealed away, the Titans did leave behind something of use, a fragment of their power. Mars and his Mystic State is an example of this."

Surprised by this sudden revelation, everyone looked at Mars as he stood beside Ozpin's desk, not reacting to the news at all. "Yeah, I know, so shocking." Mars sarcastically joked, secretly enjoying the way they were all staring at him, basking in the awe in their eyes.

"Mars' telekinetic creation semblance is unique for a reason." Ozpin explained, trying to clear up the story for everyone. "It is derived directly from the remaining power of one of the Titans, he's pretty much a descendant of it."

"It's the Mystic, the Titan that my semblance comes from." Mars added, trying to contribute to the explanation, but only confusing everyone more. "There are four Titans, the Mystic Titan is the one I get my powers from. The Mystic Lady Amaira, master of the mind, telepathy and other tele-stuff...at least that's what the runes say."

"Mars is living proof that what is inscribed on the runes is true, that the four Titans have left their power to be inherited by humans." Ozpin concluded, then waiting for everyone's reactions.

All were silent at first, thinking over what they had just been told, then Connor took a step forward and spoke. "You said four Titans, right?" He asked, still looking slightly confused. "So...where are the others? I mean, if you know where all four are, then that really would validate the theory, right?"

Leaning forward in his chair again, and looking around at the four members of Team Kalos, Ozpin answered, "The Light Dragon, Ryuu...the Dark Knight Dante...the Great Cyclops Bulthor...their descendants are all standing in this room."

There was then once again silence along with the second revelation, before Connor said, "You don't mean...it's Team Kalos? Our team?"

"Makes sense doesn't it?" Ozpin replied, Connor feeling a pang in his chest as his idea was confirmed. "Your four, all together, all descendants of Titans. I think it was meant to be. Connor, the descendant of the Light Dragon Ryuu, and controller of golden light. Kane, the descendant of the Dark Knight Dante, and the carrier of the destructive black clouds. Jim, the descendant of the Great Cyclops Golthor, and the inheritor of great physical strength. Mars, the descendant of the Mystic Lady Amaira, and the user of the unique tele-creation semblance. I believe it's your destiny to be together as a team, as you are the children of the Titans."

There followed a third silence, the members of Team Kalos drinking in the information they had just been giving without saying a word. Ruby softly grabbed hold of Connor's arm, concerned as to what he was thinking. However it was him who broke the silence, sternly saying to Ozpin, "So what else did you call us here for. That not it is it? I can see it in your eyes."

"As always, you surprise me..." Ozpin muttered to himself, admitting that Connor was right in there being another subject to talk about. "I've got someone here, in the next room right now, who wants to talk to you about a mission. Come in!" He then yelled over to his left, prompting whoever was waiting outside the door on that side of the office to come inside.

Upon who it was though, Connor lost all his former composure. Ruby looked just as shocked and hid behind his back, the others being caught off guard as well but trying to keep cool faces. The only ones acting as if nothing abnormal had happened were Ozpin and Mars, who supposedly had known about it previously.

"That bastard..." Connor cursed, scowling at the person who had joined them in the room as they cooly looked on back at him, ignoring his hostile expression.

"Hello there...Connor." The man said, as he pulled the cloth away from his face, revealing to everyone who he was and confirming all their guesses.

It was Damien.

Ending Music: https/youtu.be/KruXhNuindw [Naruto Shippuden OP 3 V2]

(Shows Damien on the left and Connor on the right)

Habata itara

(Shows Damien's flintlock pistol and Connor's Katana)

modoranai to itte!

(Shows Connor's eye, then Damien's eye, then Ruby's eye with a tear)

Mezashita no wa

(Shows Connor on his knees in front of a shadowy figure)

aoi aoi no sora!

OUTLAWS AND OUTLAWS

(Shows Connor falling through the sky towards the naval platform) Kanashimi wa mada obeorarezu! Setsunasa wa ima tsukami

(Shows Connor floating next to Damien)

hajimete! Anata e to daku kono kanjou mo!

(Shows Ruby holding her hands to her chest)

Ima kotoba ni kawatte iku!

(Shows Jim with Stephane and Yang)

Michi naru sekai

(Shows Kane with Irileth)

no yume kara

(Shows Mars with Damien) mezamete!

(Goes back to Connor falling through the sky)

Kono hane wo hiroge

(He straightens himself mid-air and his fists glow with the golden light of his semblance)

tobitatsu!

(Shows the four generals in a circle)

Habata itara modoranai to itte! (Shows Mars, Jim, Connor and Kane)

Mezashita no wa

(Shows Mars and Damien fighting Jorge)

aoi aoi no sora!

(Kane and Irileth fire their semblances at Isabella) Tsukinuketara

(Shows Jim, Stephane and Yang fighting Wolf)

mitsukara to shitte! Furikiri

(Connor throws a punch at Michael)

hodo

(Shows Connor fist fighting Michael)

aoi aoi ano sora!

(Shows the four generals together) Aoi aoi

(Shows Daryl with a shadowy figure)

ano sora!

(Shows Connor standing up)

Aoi aoi ano sora!

(Shows the Beacon team standing on the naval platform in front of Daryl, the shadowy figure, and the four generals)

END


	18. Chapter 18- An Unlikely Alliance

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 18

An Unlikely Alliance

 **Quick upload. In this chapter, the main villain of this volume will be introduced.**

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/jOz5mHKWaQ8 [GATE OP 1]

(Music starts)

(Note: Characters listed next show up at the same time as the letters in the video)

(Shows Yang)

(Shows Jim)

(Shows Irileth)

(Shows Kane)

(Shows Mars)

(Shows Damien)

(Shows Ruby)

(Shows Connor)

(Quickly shows the letters of the title)

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS (Shows Connor walking down the corridor of Beacon)

Toku ni nani mo nozomu koto (Connor looks behind him)

nante nai!

(Ruby is behind him)

Minihodo wa shite

(She smiles at him) iru sa!

(Yang comes out of her room) Sonna boku de sae mo

(She pretends to be grumpy but let's out a small smile)

oku no hou ni!

(Shows Irileth in the arena facing away)

Yuzuritakunai

(She spins around and faces forward)

ikou geedo wa

(Attacks with her dual energy whips)

arurashii!

(Shows Stephane walking away from the arena)

Mamorutte angai to

(He scowls angrily)

muzukashii ne!

(Shows Mars raising his fist into the air)

Aki-

(Shows Kane charging into battle) -ra-

(Shows Jim punching with his metal arm)

-meru

(Shows combat air ships leaving Beacon) wake ja nai kedo!

(The air ships arrive at the naval platform)

Aoi sora no hate

(Everyone jumps down from the air ships and lands on the naval platform)

tsunagatta machi no yukue

(They walk towards the soldiers) Kitto teki to wakari

(The soldiers fire at them)

aenai

(The team fires their semblances) dakedo

(Their semblances take out the soldiers)

iin ja nai!

(Shows Mars using Mystic State) Hirata tobira wa

(Shows Kane surrounded by dark clouds)

subete o kaete

(Shows Jim's muscles growing stronger)

yuku!

(Shows Daryl standing on the roof watching the battle)

Sora no akatsuki no you ni!

(Shows Michael in flying around in his dragon exo-suit)

Oh wow wow! (Shows Michelle teleport behind Irileth and Kane and swing her twin-blade at them) Oh wow wow!

(Shows Wolf slicing at Jim, Yang and Stephane with his claws)

Oh wow wow!

(Shows Jorge firing a chain gun at Mars and Damien)

Oh wow wow!

(Shows Mars, Connor, Jim and Kane trying to push a tank back) Oh wow wow!

(Shows Michael, Michelle, Wolf and Jorge)

(Shows Mars and Damien)

(Shows Yang, Jim and Stephane) (Shows Kane and Irileth)

(Shows Connor and Ruby)

(Shows them all cheering in a line)

Connor glared furiously at the familiar man stood in front of him, gritting his teeth angrily and clenching his fists. He trembled with aggravation, as the figure before him regarded him casually, seeming unthreatened by his hostile expression.

"I didn't think you'd be quite this angry." Damien commented dryly. "I mean I understand why but...I hoped we could overcome that."

"Bastard!" Connor exclaimed in response, stepping forward and raising a fist, wanting to punch Damien right in the face. He was surprised to be held back by Mars, who pulled his arms behind himself and stopped him from advancing further. "Mars, what the hell?!"

"Just hear him out Connor!" Mars told him, struggling to hold him back, surprised by his strength. "He's not here to cause any trouble, quite the opposite in fact!"

After trying to break free from Mars grip for a few seconds more, Connor accepted he wasn't going to be able to and calmed down, Mars still keeping a close eye on him from behind. He looked around at everyone else, finding them to be not as visibly angry as him, but most of them still scowling at Damien. Ruby stood next to Yang, looking nervous and confused. He then looked back at Mars at asked, "You knew about this didn't you?"

Sighing now that Connor knew, Mars admitted, "Yeah, I knew about it. Ozpin told me about it before any of you because he hoped I'd understand why Damien's here, and I do, so listen to him."

"What about you guys?" Connor then asked the others, his face turning back into an angry snarl as his thoughts went back to what Damien had done in the past. "Don't you want to rip this guys throat out for what he's done to all of us?"

Finding no answer in his friends' silence, Connor was responded to by Damien, prompting him to sharply turn back around. "I know I've done some bad stuff, Connor." Damien stated bluntly. "I hurt Kane a lot when he was younger, I killed people for the Kalos Crystal and I kidnapped Ruby. After what I've been through, I'm a changed man, trust me."

"Why should I?" Connor quickly snapped back, still very much on guard.

"What I've seen is enough to change any man, any criminal, and make them want to put a stop to it. I've seen true evil, proper messed up stuff, and that's just what I'm here for today." Damien answered.

"What are you going on about?" Connor questioned, forgetting his anger for a moment in sheer bewilderment.

Before responding to that question, Damien turned to face Ozpin and reached out a hand, picking up a tape from the desk. He brandished it in front of Connor and the others, showing he meant no harm, and then walked over to the old TV at the side of the room as Connor carefully watched him, then put the tape in the player. The screen fuzzed with static for a few moments as it booted up, Damien using that time to say, "This footage was taken from a CCTV camera at the Vale docks I set up to monitor the suspects movements, I'll warn you now it's pretty graphic so if you don't like that sort of stuff you should turn away."

Wondering who the suspect Damien was referring to was, Connor opened his mouth to inquire about it, but the static stopped and the video began to play before he could speak. The footage was in black and white, noiseless, and showed one man with guards standing among a large group of tied up men. Connor recognised one of them immediately, Roman Torchwick, leader of the White Fang and the last person Team Kalos had interrogated before heading back to Beacon.

In front of the restrained Roman Torchwick stood another, very tall man. He was dressed in a very official ooking brown trench coat, which was decorated with medals and symbols referring to government organisations, including one Connor didn't recognise. His hair was brown and messy, like Damien's, but longer like a mullet. The man also had a scraggy brown beard, short but thick. Despite his medals and symbols of indemnification, he didn't look like someone you'd expect to be a government official, more like a criminal.

"That's the suspect, or should I say the culprit, since we know it's him." Damien explained, pointing to the rough looking man on the screen. "His name is Daryl, he's my brother."

"Your brother?" Connor repeated, his surprise very evident in his voice. "Why is your brother the culprit?"

"Keep watching, you'll see." Damien stated simply, Connor putting his eyes back on the screen as he was told.

After a few seconds of what Connor assumed was him talking to Torchwick, unsure due to the silent nature of the footage, Daryl started to grow angry. Everyone could all see he had started yelling and pacing back and forth. They were all, except Damien, Mars and Ozpin, caught of guard however when Daryl grabbed a pistol from one of his guards and shot a White Fang member right in the head.

For a second everyone watching the video was silent, their eyes fixed to the screen, not understanding why he had shot a defenceless and restrained prisoner. Their shock grew when Daryl pointed the pistol and the heads of more White Fang members, shooting and killing all of them. He then put his pistol on Torchwick's head, said something that no one could make out, and then waited.

Words came out of Torchwick's mouth, not words anyone heard or were able to lip read, but they knew he must have said something bad after what happened next. Daryl backhanded Torchwick's cheek, knocking him to the ground, then fired the rest of the bullets in the clip into his skull. By the time the fun was empty, he had shot ten rounds into him, his brains scattered across the floor like junk.

Everyone was then silent for another moment, unsure how to react to what they had just seen. Ruby looked to Connor and saw he was shaking, perhaps scared or maybe angry. She knew which when she saw him tightly clench his fist. "He slaughtered them..." He muttered, gritting his teeth. "They were his prisoners...he'd already captured them...and he killed them all..."

"I hope now you see the problem." Damien said, switching off the TV screen. "It's not just him, there's a whole organisation working under him that have sworn their allegiance. They need to be dealt with before they kill more people who might not deserve it."

"How many other people has he killed like that?" Connor inquired, trying to calm himself down.

"Plenty." Damien replied simply and shortly. "Whatever job he's assigned to he leaves no one alive, even if they're just muggers or thieves. Every time, he kills them without remorse, it's the way he does things."

"Job? Who does he do jobs for?" Connor next asked, starting to wonder why no one else was asking any questions.

"He's an employee of the military section of the government." Damien explained. "They give him targets, criminals to bring in for trial, and he and his group 'The Enforcers' hunt them down. His superiors don't know however that he always kills them like he does, he tells them they leave him no choice, they attack him. The higher ups believe him because he's such a good soldier and they don't want to get rid of him, he even makes his troops swear silence on the matter and kills them if they try to leak information."

"Why does he do it?" Connor then questioned, after taking a second to process the information so far. "What makes him kill these people instead of arresting them?"

"From what I've heard from the very few traitorous soldiers that have ever spoken to me before he murdered them, it was all down to the previous General of the Enforcers." Damien answered, seeming affected by relieving the past memories of his brother. "Apparently he was a killer too, no one knew why, but he never showed mercy on anyone he captured. Daryl used to work under him, so I guess it left an imprint. When the General died and Daryl took his place, he upheld his way of doing things and eventually became just as bad."

"So...we take care of him, that's what you want from us?" Connor said, starting to grow angrier at the thought of working with Damien, but knowing taking down this Daryl guy was important.

"If someone doesn't stop him, he'll keep killing people, he's even killed innocent citizens for interrupting arrests." Damien replied. "I know you're interested in justice, in wiping the bad from humanity. Hell, we get enough trouble from the Grimm and it is. If you agree to help me out with this, not only will you be ridding our world of a psychotic, murderous bastard, I'd be willing to return the Kalos Crystal to you."

Connor stepped closer to Damien upon hearing that, looking at his face sternly. "You have it?"

In response, Damien locked eyes with Connor and reached a hand into his inner jacket pocket. When his hand reemerged, the brilliant purple Kalos Crystal was in his palm. Connor held out his hand cautiously, suspecting Damien might be up to something, but was surprised when the crystal was simply dropped into his metal hand. He immediately stepped back, watching as the crystal melted into the steel of his palm, feeling the energy emanating from it. "You actually gave it to me." He stated in confusion, not comprehending why Damien would so readily give away the object he had searched for for so long.

"I've put my trust in you, hoping you won't kill me and be done with it. Now it's your turn to put a little bit of trust in me." Damien monologued, hoping that he had earned a little bit of respect. "There was a time when all I thought about was getting that crystal by any means necessary, but now I've handed it to you. I do hope that says something about me, about how I've changed."

There was then a short and slightly frightening silence as Connor stared at the Kalos Crystal in his hand, still feeling the thrill of having it back in his possession. Ozpin loudly sipped coffee from his mug, drawing everyone's attention. He then looked up from his hot drink and raised an eyebrow at them all. "Well Connor? Do you trust him?" He asked.

Glancing again at the Kalos crystal in his hand and back at Damien, looking extremely troubled and conflicted, Connor gave in and replied, "I'm starting to...a little bit."

"Well that is good!" Damien exclaimed, showing off a surprisingly cheerful smile as he reached into his other jacket pocket and pulled out a clear plastic bag with tiny purple crystals in it. It didn't take Connor long to figure out they were tiny versions of the Kalos Crystals.

"Where did you get all those?" He questioned inquisitively, only having ever heard of there being one Kalos Crystal.

"These are copies." Damien began to explain as he unzipped the bag, and one by one handed the three crystals in it out to Mars, Kane and Jim. "After a lot of research around the original, I managed to come up with a way to create a basic mimic of the one and only Kalos Crystal. They're smaller, as you can see, and are only a one use version. They put you in contact with Kalos himself all the same though, meaning you can strike a deal with him and power up your semblances."

"I don't need this." Mars politely declined, handing the tiny crystal back to Damien without delay. "You saw me fight in the arena, I'm powerful enough already. You may as well keep it."

Music: http/youtu.be/2ISfifczkgM

[Naruto OST- Departure to the Front Line]

Accepting Mars' opinion, Damien nodded and placed the one remaining mimic crystal back in his pocket, saving it for later. He then looked directly at Connor and told him, "You know the mission now, the reason I came here. I want all of you to help me eliminate my brother and his posse before they kill more innocent people, I think I've already proven that I can be trusted by readily handing you the crystals. So Connor, I need a decision, will you join forces with me?"

Unsure of what to say to the radical proposal, Connor turned to his teammates for their opinion. Mars simply shrugged and looked unworried, having heard about this before the others had prepared him a lot better. Connor then looked to Jim, silently asking for his advice. "At the end of the day, it's all down to you, Connor." Jim told him respectfully. "For as long as we've been together, the members of our team have been equals, but I think you deserve to be leader. Whatever choice you make, we'll be behind you."

Connor couldn't but smile at Jim's opinion. He had hoped for advice in which direction he would take at this vital crossroad point, but he greatly appreciated how his friend had promised to support him no matter what and was glad to have him there. Next, he looked at Kane.

Sighing and looking his usual grumpy self, Kane spoke, "You know, I really don't like this guy, but he makes some good points. On top of that he practically gave away the crystals...I say we keep an eye on him, but go along with his plan."

"Always the grumps of the group, eh Kane?" Mars teased, Kane shooting him an annoyed scowl as Connor turned his gaze to the others.

"I revved up after seeing that video." Yang pitched in, looking more serious than anyone had ever seen her. "I say we go teach that asshole a lesson."

"I'm raring to go!" Irileth excitedly announced. "If Kane's going, I've got to have his back!"

"It's been a while since I participated in such a hearty battle, so I could use the workout." Stephane added, flexing his arm muscles.

"If we can stop people getting hurt, then we should!" Ruby declared, saying her fill as Connor gave her a loving look which then switched to a determined one as he nodded in agreement.

Turning back to face Damien, Connor proudly gave his answer, "I say...let's kick their asses!"

Putting his arms out to his sides dramatically, Damien grinned triumphantly and then declared, "It's settled then! Welcome to the Outlaws!"

Ending Music: https/youtu.be/KruXhNuindw [Naruto Shippuden OP 3 V2]

(Shows Damien on the left and Connor on the right)

Habata itara

(Shows Damien's flintlock pistol and Connor's Katana)

modoranai to itte!

(Shows Connor's eye, then Damien's eye, then Ruby's eye with a tear)

Mezashita no wa

(Shows Connor on his knees in front of a shadowy figure)

aoi aoi no sora!

OUTLAWS AND OUTLAWS

(Shows Connor falling through the sky towards the naval platform) Kanashimi wa mada obeorarezu! Setsunasa wa ima tsukami

(Shows Connor floating next to Damien)

hajimete! Anata e to daku kono kanjou mo!

(Shows Ruby holding her hands to her chest)

Ima kotoba ni kawatte iku!

(Shows Jim with Stephane and Yang)

Michi naru sekai

(Shows Kane with Irileth)

no yume kara

(Shows Mars with Damien) mezamete!

(Goes back to Connor falling through the sky)

Kono hane wo hiroge

(He straightens himself mid-air and his fists glow with the golden light of his semblance)

tobitatsu!

(Shows the four generals in a circle)

Habata itara modoranai to itte! (Shows Mars, Jim, Connor and Kane)

Mezashita no wa

(Shows Mars and Damien fighting Jorge)

aoi aoi no sora!

(Kane and Irileth fire their semblances at Isabella) Tsukinuketara

(Shows Jim, Stephane and Yang fighting Wolf)

mitsukara to shitte! Furikiri

(Connor throws a punch at Michael)

hodo

(Shows Connor fist fighting Michael)

aoi aoi ano sora!

(Shows the four generals together) Aoi aoi

(Shows Daryl with a shadowy figure)

ano sora!

(Shows Connor standing up)

Aoi aoi ano sora!

(Shows the Beacon team standing on the naval platform in front of Daryl, the shadowy figure, and the four generals)

END


	19. Chapter 19- Joined Minds

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 19

Joined Minds

 **Here we go, one more chapter to add to the pile. If I remember correctly, this is the last chapter before the main action for this volume starts. Enjoy!**

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/jOz5mHKWaQ8 [GATE OP 1]

(Music starts)

(Note: Characters listed next show up at the same time as the letters in the video)

(Shows Yang)

(Shows Jim)

(Shows Irileth)

(Shows Kane)

(Shows Mars)

(Shows Damien)

(Shows Ruby)

(Shows Connor)

(Quickly shows the letters of the title)

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS (Shows Connor walking down the corridor of Beacon)

Toku ni nani mo nozomu koto (Connor looks behind him)

nante nai!

(Ruby is behind him)

Minihodo wa shite

(She smiles at him) iru sa!

(Yang comes out of her room) Sonna boku de sae mo

(She pretends to be grumpy but let's out a small smile)

oku no hou ni!

(Shows Irileth in the arena facing away)

Yuzuritakunai

(She spins around and faces forward)

ikou geedo wa

(Attacks with her dual energy whips)

arurashii!

(Shows Stephane walking away from the arena)

Mamorutte angai to

(He scowls angrily)

muzukashii ne!

(Shows Mars raising his fist into the air)

Aki-

(Shows Kane charging into battle) -ra-

(Shows Jim punching with his metal arm)

-meru

(Shows combat air ships leaving Beacon) wake ja nai kedo!

(The air ships arrive at the naval platform)

Aoi sora no hate

(Everyone jumps down from the air ships and lands on the naval platform)

tsunagatta machi no yukue

(They walk towards the soldiers) Kitto teki to wakari

(The soldiers fire at them)

aenai

(The team fires their semblances) dakedo

(Their semblances take out the soldiers)

iin ja nai!

(Shows Mars using Mystic State) Hirata tobira wa

(Shows Kane surrounded by dark clouds)

subete o kaete

(Shows Jim's muscles growing stronger)

yuku!

(Shows Daryl standing on the roof watching the battle)

Sora no akatsuki no you ni!

(Shows Michael in flying around in his dragon exo-suit)

Oh wow wow! (Shows Michelle teleport behind Irileth and Kane and swing her twin-blade at them) Oh wow wow!

(Shows Wolf slicing at Jim, Yang and Stephane with his claws)

Oh wow wow!

(Shows Jorge firing a chain gun at Mars and Damien)

Oh wow wow!

(Shows Mars, Connor, Jim and Kane trying to push a tank back) Oh wow wow!

(Shows Michael, Michelle, Wolf and Jorge)

(Shows Mars and Damien)

(Shows Yang, Jim and Stephane) (Shows Kane and Irileth)

(Shows Connor and Ruby)

(Shows them all cheering in a line)

A little while after the meeting, the team were outside on the Beacon landing platform. Three military airships were stationed there, ready to leave at a moments notice. All three of the airships were compact but with enough room to fit four passengers, and were fitted with machine guns controlled by the co-pilot.

In one were Stephane, Jim and Yang, all of them having geared up and strapped in already. Their expressions were an interesting mix. For Yang, it was her first official job of this caliber, she's never been sent on a mission intending to kill people before. Jim had spent months fighting against other human beings with the rest of Team Kalos, but he's never killed any of them, and so was also uneasy. As for Stephane, he seemed able to handle the thought of being sent into a battlefield, having been sent into combat in his homeland many times already.

In the next aircraft Kane and Irileth were seated, both next to each other with their legs hanging off of the side. As expected, Kane looked unaffected by the prospect of what they were about to do, which was practically an assassination. Irileth looked slightly troubled, but stuck with Kane, perhaps not wanting to worry him or leave him to fight alone.

As for Mars, he was getting suited up with body armour, issued by Ozpin for protection against firearms. Mars seemed uncaring for the armour, knowing he could easily create a shield for himself. He had also previously argued that the armour didn't match his outfit, until the people suiting up the team had made sure that all the body armour was hidden under everyone's clothing and not visible at all.

Lastly, Damien was walking with Connor towards the transports, discussing the finer details of the operation. Ruby had been with Connor the entire time, holding his hand as he spoke to Damien. He had unintentionally been ignoring her for a while, too wrapped up in listening to the battle plan.

"So after we've pushed past the main forces, either by killing all of them or rushing past as fast as we can, they'll probably send out the four generals against us." Damien explained, taking Connor through the plan bit by bit. "They're just as bad as Daryl himself so we'll have to take them out before entering the facility."

"How tough are they?" Connor inquired, raving for a challenging fight, but also concerned about whether the battle would completely go their way.

"They've each got their own skills, and they're extremely proficient at them." Damien responded, not helping to calm Connor's worries. "If we spilt into two man teams to deal with them then it shouldn't be too much of a problem...then again..."

Connor's concern grew tenfold upon Damien stopping mid sentence, he seemed unsure about something and that made Connor very uneasy. Damien was their source of intel on this mission, meaning if his information was wrong, the whole team could go down for it.

Eventually Damien recomposed himself, fixing his expression to one of slightly more confidence. "It's been a long time since I was in battle with them, so who knows how much they've changed." He admitted. "I remember they didn't have semblances, they were like you in that regard. The four of them spent the majority of their early lives as outcasts from society because they tried to become warriors without semblances. I probably would've taken them into the Outlaws, but Daryl got there first, promised he could make them strong without semblances."

"If they haven't got semblances, then what are you worried about?" Connor questioned, wondering if there was something he wasn't being told about them.

"The problem is that they were all well versed in close combat when last I saw them, and the years could've only been good to them." Damien answered, explaining his concerns. "For all I know, they could be ten times better than back then, their swordplay might actually outmatch our semblances."

"You say that like our semblances are all we've got." Connor countered, slightly annoyed be Damien's sudden lack of confidence in his group. "We've got some pretty damn good swordplay too, you should know that first hand."

"I'm not saying our semblances are all we've got." Damien quickly responded, seeming to want to urgently get his point across. "What I mean is while we do have other means of attack, our semblances our are main offensive strategy. If they enemy were to outmanoeuvre us on that front, it'd be bad."

Not fully accepting his opinion, but understanding were he was coming from, Connor stayed silent, not arguing against him any longer. Thinking about it, he could imagine how bad it would be if Mars' Mystic State wasn't enough to win the battle for them, it being their best weapon.

"This isn't easy for me, you know..." Damien suddenly and somewhat solemnly stated, Connor sharply snapping his head in his direction. "Going on a mission to kill my brother...it's hard."

"Then why are you doing it?" Connor asked him, starting to feel a little for the man who had once threatened to kill Ruby. He didn't know why, but he felt kind of sorry for him. He supposed he knew what he was going through, like when Kane had had to face killing Murlough.

Damien turned away, perhaps in shame, before replying. "My brother has committed the gravest of sins, I know have too but...I don't want to let it continue. He has to pay the toll for the sins he's committed, by experiencing what he put the people he killed through, by facing death himself..."

Starting to walk away from Connor, thinking he hadn't been heard, Damien then whispered secretly to himself, "Sometimes I think I deserve the same punishment..."

Connor felt himself freeze when he heard that whisper, which he maybe shouldn't have heard. He didn't know why, but that sentence worries him immensely, scared him to his core. He snapped out of it however, when he felt Ruby hold his hand a little tighter and tug it to grab his attention.

Turning around, he saw Ruby wearing a serious face, one he had rarely seen on her. For a moment he wondered what was on her mind, then he figured it out. "You want to come with me don't you?" He said to her, his voice cracking a little just thinking about what might happen to her.

"I...I don't want you to go alone, I won't know what's happened to you if you don't come back." Ruby timidly responded, hugging herself tightly to Connor.

Hugging her back, Connor smiled and told her, "Don't worry, you'll be there to watch over me, I'll make sure of that."

A flash of purple lightning then sparked from Connor's metal hand as he held Ruby tighter. She tried to look over her shoulder to see what was happening but couldn't get a good view and in mere seconds she saw black.

Ruby awoke a few seconds later, dazed and confused. For a moment her vision was blurry, a ringing in her ears, but her senses soon returned to normal and she saw where she was. Nothing but white. No walls or a ceiling, just a floor, all completely white. She had never seen this place before, and so grew confused. She had no idea where she was and started panic, thinking she had somehow died or that she was in a coma, but she calmed down when she saw him.

Connor stood opposite her, not too far away, also in the blank wasteland. He still wore his white, gold trimmed trench jacket, but Ruby thought something seemed off about him. "Ah, so this is where Kane hung out all that time he was in my head." Connor said to himself, looking around the landscape. "It's a dreary place isn't it? I would've gone insane."

"Your wounds..." Ruby mumbled, observing Connor's state and noticing that his hand was normal and his eyepatch was missing, both eyes present. He had no wounds on his body whatsoever.

"Ah, that's a fancy bonus of this place, surprised me the first time too." Connor explained, holding his flesh and blood hand in front of his face and then waving in at Ruby. "Rubes, this is my mind."

"Your mind?" Ruby repeated, growing ever more confused by the minute.

"Yep, my mind." Connor simply replied, showing Ruby a small, innocent smile. "Damien came up with the idea, it's a way you can come with me without being in danger of getting hurt. This way, I protect you, and you get to come along."

Before Ruby could stammer out another question, a cold wind breezed through. She held her arms around herself in an attempt to stay warm, not noticing the horrible sight next to her until she heard Connor gasp and then looked.

Off to the side of the two were another two figures. One was a young girl in hospital gowns, covered in blood and clearly not breathing. The other was Connor, his younger self. The little boy version of him was also covered in blood, but not his own. The dark clouds that Kane's semblance allowed him to control were wrapped around little Connor's entire body, enveloping him in a dark mist as he pulled his bloodied fist out of the little girls chest, scratching his knuckles and wrist on her ribs.

Ruby gazed in horror at the sight before her, recognising the boy as Connor but not knowing the identity of the girl. She glanced over to big Connor and saw tears forming in his eyes at he looked at his younger self fading away and leaving the blank white space. Once it had completely dematerialised, Connor spoke shakily, "It was a memory...I wonder why..." He then stopped for a moment, and rubbed his eyes, unable to hold back the tears whilst he was remembering the image of his younger self. "It was back when Kane was still in my and I couldn't control it all that well, I was just a kid." He continued, sobbing slightly. "That girl in the hospital gown...she was in a fire, she lost control of her semblance like I used to sometimes. I fought her, tried to calm her down, to stop her. Then the dark clouds took over, they made me go crazy. Our battle destroyed the town...and eventually I killed her without even realising what I'd done."

For a moment Ruby didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to do except stare at Connor's depressed face as he relived the terrors of his past. Eventually though, she figured she should do something and walked towards him slowly.

"Puny mortals..." A voice said from somewhere, before Ruby could reach Connor. The voice seemed to come from everywhere, echoing all around the room. Ruby scanned the room all over, trying to track down the source of the sound. Connor however recognised the voice and knew exactly who it belonged to. He turned around slowly to see a giant stone wall decorated with a green runic circle in its centre, and thick pillars of stone on either side. Sat on top of the structure once again, with his legs dangling over the edge just like last time, was Kalos.

"Puny mortals wandering my realm..." He mysteriously muttered to himself, looking down at the pair as if resenting their inferiority. His appearance hadn't changed, Connor noted. His humanoid shape was still made up of green ones and zeros, like a computer program with a human shape. "One puny mortal I recall, but the other is new."

"Stop talking in riddles." Connor sternly ordered, not in the mood to be jerked around by the pompous excuse for a god. "You know why I'm here, I'm sure."

"I always know why anyone is here, mortal, as I am the master of this oh so divine dimension." Kalos boomed down to Connor in his commanding, omnipresent voice. "You wish to store the girl among your own data banks, so to speak, to keep her safe inside your head. Well let me tell you puny mortal, I do hope she doesn't mind sharing."

"What do mean by sharing?" Connor questioned, starting to think that if Kalos was going be around, maybe this wasn't the place for Ruby to be kept safe.

"This mind has room for two." Kalos explained, creepily chuckling ca little. "When you use the Kalos Crystal you don't simply communicate with me, you let me in. I am in your mind now, so if your pretty little girl wants to stay here, she has to bunk with me."

"You're saying that she'd have to put with you?" Connor teased meanly, crossing his arms. "I don't know if I'd want to put her through that. How do I know you won't hurt her while she's in here?"

"Oh please, I wouldn't harm a lady of such caliber." Kalos smoothly responded, earning a scowl from Connor for his joking. "In all seriousness, so long as our deal is active, I have no reason to harm her. In fact, I'd enjoy the conversation. It does get ever so lonely in here with no one to talk to."

Not feeling sorry for Kalos in the slightest, Connor turned back to Ruby to see what her opinion on the matter was. "It's up to you Rubes, I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to stay with this prick. Saying that though, inside my head is the safest place for you to be if you want to come with us. I'd much rather have you alive in here than dead on the battlefield."

Thinking about it for a moment first, Ruby moved ever so slightly closer to Connor and asked him, "It'd be like when Kane was in your head right? I can come out whenever I want, when everything has died down?"

"Yeah, that's right." Connor replied, smiling back at her. "With the Kalos Crystal, it won't even hurt."

Giving it a couple more seconds of thought, Ruby then decided and told Connor, "OK." Before hugging him tightly.

Putting his hand on her head and looking down at her sweetly, Connor assured her, "Everything's gonna be fine, Rubes. We'll take that psycho Daryl down and get home in time for our wedding."

"Such a touching scene..." Kalos mockingly stated, looking bored. "Time is up however, you cannot sustain a presence in your own mind for any longer, say your goodbyes."

Letting go of Ruby and stepping back as his body started to fade from the white realm, Connor told Ruby, "I love you." one more time before disappearing from the dimension.

"Such a sweet couple." Kalos commented sarcastically, looking down at Ruby with interest. "I wonder what I can get out of you, girl in red."

Ending Music: https/youtu.be/KruXhNuindw [Naruto Shippuden OP 3 V2]

(Shows Damien on the left and Connor on the right)

Habata itara

(Shows Damien's flintlock pistol and Connor's Katana)

modoranai to itte!

(Shows Connor's eye, then Damien's eye, then Ruby's eye with a tear)

Mezashita no wa

(Shows Connor on his knees in front of a shadowy figure)

aoi aoi no sora!

OUTLAWS AND OUTLAWS

(Shows Connor falling through the sky towards the naval platform) Kanashimi wa mada obeorarezu! Setsunasa wa ima tsukami

(Shows Connor floating next to Damien)

hajimete! Anata e to daku kono kanjou mo!

(Shows Ruby holding her hands to her chest)

Ima kotoba ni kawatte iku!

(Shows Jim with Stephane and Yang)

Michi naru sekai

(Shows Kane with Irileth)

no yume kara

(Shows Mars with Damien) mezamete!

(Goes back to Connor falling through the sky)

Kono hane wo hiroge

(He straightens himself mid-air and his fists glow with the golden light of his semblance)

tobitatsu!

(Shows the four generals in a circle)

Habata itara modoranai to itte! (Shows Mars, Jim, Connor and Kane)

Mezashita no wa

(Shows Mars and Damien fighting Jorge)

aoi aoi no sora!

(Kane and Irileth fire their semblances at Isabella) Tsukinuketara

(Shows Jim, Stephane and Yang fighting Wolf)

mitsukara to shitte! Furikiri

(Connor throws a punch at Michael)

hodo

(Shows Connor fist fighting Michael)

aoi aoi ano sora!

(Shows the four generals together) Aoi aoi

(Shows Daryl with a shadowy figure)

ano sora!

(Shows Connor standing up)

Aoi aoi ano sora!

(Shows the Beacon team standing on the naval platform in front of Daryl, the shadowy figure, and the four generals)

END


	20. Chapter 20- Battle With The Enforcers

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 20

Battle With The Enforcers

 **Here's the first taste of action. Next chapter, the real fight begins.**

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/jOz5mHKWaQ8 [GATE OP 1]

(Music starts)

(Note: Characters listed next show up at the same time as the letters in the video)

(Shows Yang)

(Shows Jim)

(Shows Irileth)

(Shows Kane)

(Shows Mars)

(Shows Damien)

(Shows Ruby)

(Shows Connor)

(Quickly shows the letters of the title)

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS (Shows Connor walking down the corridor of Beacon)

Toku ni nani mo nozomu koto (Connor looks behind him)

nante nai!

(Ruby is behind him)

Minihodo wa shite

(She smiles at him) iru sa!

(Yang comes out of her room) Sonna boku de sae mo

(She pretends to be grumpy but let's out a small smile)

oku no hou ni!

(Shows Irileth in the arena facing away)

Yuzuritakunai

(She spins around and faces forward)

ikou geedo wa

(Attacks with her dual energy whips)

arurashii!

(Shows Stephane walking away from the arena)

Mamorutte angai to

(He scowls angrily)

muzukashii ne!

(Shows Mars raising his fist into the air)

Aki-

(Shows Kane charging into battle) -ra-

(Shows Jim punching with his metal arm)

-meru

(Shows combat air ships leaving Beacon) wake ja nai kedo!

(The air ships arrive at the naval platform)

Aoi sora no hate

(Everyone jumps down from the air ships and lands on the naval platform)

tsunagatta machi no yukue

(They walk towards the soldiers) Kitto teki to wakari

(The soldiers fire at them)

aenai

(The team fires their semblances) dakedo

(Their semblances take out the soldiers)

iin ja nai!

(Shows Mars using Mystic State) Hirata tobira wa

(Shows Kane surrounded by dark clouds)

subete o kaete

(Shows Jim's muscles growing stronger)

yuku!

(Shows Daryl standing on the roof watching the battle)

Sora no akatsuki no you ni!

(Shows Michael in flying around in his dragon exo-suit)

Oh wow wow! (Shows Michelle teleport behind Irileth and Kane and swing her twin-blade at them) Oh wow wow!

(Shows Wolf slicing at Jim, Yang and Stephane with his claws)

Oh wow wow!

(Shows Jorge firing a chain gun at Mars and Damien)

Oh wow wow!

(Shows Mars, Connor, Jim and Kane trying to push a tank back) Oh wow wow!

(Shows Michael, Michelle, Wolf and Jorge)

(Shows Mars and Damien)

(Shows Yang, Jim and Stephane) (Shows Kane and Irileth)

(Shows Connor and Ruby)

(Shows them all cheering in a line)

A heavily armoured guard stood in the middle of the main outdoors area of the naval platform, holding a large rifle and equipped with an earpiece and shiny white armour. The naval platform he was stationed at was property of the Enforcers and was being used as their HQ on the water, in the middle of the ocean with not a speck of land to see. The area the guard had been assigned to by Daryl and the four generals was a large open area of the platform. It was basically a huge, flat, metal surface at the front of the incredibly enormous base that was a place for choppers to land or drop cargo, which would then be transported through the thick steel doors and into the facility by jeep. This part of the platform was extremely spacious, designed to be a perfect place to hold out against an enemy attack with room to run around and deployable cover scattered across.

The guard looked up into the sky when he heard the sound of airship engines, his partner coming over to investigate as well. Up in the air just off the edge of the platform were three military grade airships, all hovering in flight just a few metres above the metal surface of the base. Figures could be seen in the passengers section of the flying vehicles, but the airships were at such an angle that the identity of the people inside couldn't be confirmed. "Is that one of ours?" The second guard asked the first, holding his rifle low.

"I don't think so, look at the markings." The other guard responded, pointing up to the decorations on the airship, markings neither of them recognised. Suddenly remembering their job, the two guards held up their guns and aimed the barrels are the airships threateningly. "Identify yourself! Land and come out with your hands up!" The first guard commanded.

Right on cue, the group of people jumped from their airships, instead of landing first. They landed on the rusty steel platform with a clunk of boots on metal, then raised their hands and looked upon the soldiers. Connor, Mars, Jim and Kane were in the front, followed up by Damien, Yang, Stephane and Irileth. All eight of them had their weapons in their hands, confusing the guards so much they didn't know what they should do.

Without a single word, Connor then rushed forward, holding his katana at his side as he did so. Then posing dramatically behind the two soldiers, one of them spurted blood from their torso and fell to the ground.

Music: https/youtu.be/Sv93yQE8bRo

[Naruto OST- Reverse Situation]

Before the other guard could open fire, Kane rushed forward and hit him in the head with one of his scythes. The blade buried deep into the man's face, killing him instantly. The group had felt negligent to kill people on the journey, but Damien had convinced them otherwise, telling them everyone involved was loyal to Daryl and his ways.

The moment the second guards body hit the floor, alarms blared all across the naval base. The group had been prepared for this, knowing there were surveillance cameras everywhere and that the only way was to forcefully break through their ranks. They were ready for a war and that was what came towards them. Armed soldiers in shiny white power armour spilled out of the main door, it sealing shut behind them as they took their positions behind cover which sprung up from the floor, their guns aimed at the group.

Mars was the first to go, the one to start the assault. He bravely took a step forward and punched his fist into the air in front of him, sending a shockwave of destructive green energy into the ranks of the soldiers, effectively scattering them. The small army opened fire, creating a storm of deadly lead bullets. Unfortunately for them, the agility of hunters and huntresses isn't even matched by bullets. Using their aura to propel them around the platform, the attack force lead by Damien dodged the rifle fire, getting closer to the soldiers every second.

Once in range, which for him was further than the others thanks to his fighting style, Jim launched his boomerangs on strings towards the enemy as he guided them by holding the strings in his hands. The flying bladed boomerangs knocked down many soldiers as they travelled through the air in arcs, some of them sticking in the heads of select individuals and firing off shotgun rounds as they were pulled out.

Creating a sword and shield out of his green energy semblance, Mars was the first to run head first into the crowd of heavily armed soldiers. He moved expertly, slashing at the enemies around him and blocking their shots with his shield, creating an energy barrier when he couldn't turn fast enough. Damien followed him into the fray, cutting up those who challenged him with his katana blades, whilst firing off rounds from the flintlock pistols they were attached to, one round after another.

Connor and Kane were the next to enter the main stage of the battlefield, slaying attackers left and right as they stood back to back with each other. It didn't take long for the soldiers to realise they were wasting ammo and switch to their swords, which were crafted from moon white metal. The team felt the pressure rise instantly, while they could easily dodge bullets with a little help from their aura, swords were a little trickier. Close combat was a lot riskier, they didn't expect it would be easy to get through without any injuries.

Shooting forward with the help of her semblance, Yang began firing shotgun shells into the army. Once they closed the distance to her, she switched her gauntlets to close combat mode and for a while enjoyed smashing the soldiers with her fists of flame and fury. She was too agile and quick for the soldiers to land a hit, allowing her to keep a ring of space around her as she fought off her attackers.

Dashing past Yang went Irileth, who proceeded to enthusiastically twirl her energy whips around around herself, knocking back any enemies who got too close with a shock of purple energy. Stephane was hot on her heels, the last in the group to join the fight but by no means the least confident. He blocked the attacks of the enemy blades with his great-shield and then slashed them in half with his cleaver like sword.

The enemy numbers quickly fell, but reinforcements kept coming. The team needed a way to permanently cut down their numbers and fast. Knowing this, Connor held his katana tightly in both of his hands and began to pump his aura into it. As it began to glow with golden light, he slashed it from right to left, sending a wave of brilliant golden energy that broke the crowd of soldiers.

Kane caught on quick and followed suite, putting both his hands down on the ground and summoning up tendrils of dark clouds all around the battlefield. The destructive clouds smashed into the ground all over, knocking over some soldiers like bowling pins and completely crushing others. Mars saw what the other two were doing and decided to join in, blasting green energy out of his fists in a marvellous display.

Suddenly a jeep broke through the ranks of the downed soldiers, headed straight for the team at top speed. Jim stepped out in front to intercept it, the driver smirking as if he's just read a good joke. He wasn't smiling however when Jim grabbed the bumper of the jeep right as it was about to hit him and, summoning all the strength of his semblance, threw it over his shoulder and into the wall behind them. The jeep exploded violently, killing the driver and the soldiers around it.

The fighting didn't last much longer after that, the combined semblances of Team Kalos and company were too fearsome. In just a mere five minutes, the entirety of the bases military force had been wiped out, the group standing in the middle of the platform surrounded by dead bodies. "Well that didn't take too long..." Connor chuckled, surprised that no one had been hurt in the massacre.

"That was the easy part..." Damien responded forebodingly as the thick steel doors of the main base began to slide open once again. This time, instead of an army, there came just four. Just four individual with a mission to take down the fools who had dared attack their naval base.

Daryl's four generals.

Ending Music: https/youtu.be/KruXhNuindw [Naruto Shippuden OP 3 V2]

(Shows Damien on the left and Connor on the right)

Habata itara

(Shows Damien's flintlock pistol and Connor's Katana)

modoranai to itte!

(Shows Connor's eye, then Damien's eye, then Ruby's eye with a tear)

Mezashita no wa

(Shows Connor on his knees in front of a shadowy figure)

aoi aoi no sora!

OUTLAWS AND OUTLAWS

(Shows Connor falling through the sky towards the naval platform) Kanashimi wa mada obeorarezu! Setsunasa wa ima tsukami

(Shows Connor floating next to Damien)

hajimete! Anata e to daku kono kanjou mo!

(Shows Ruby holding her hands to her chest)

Ima kotoba ni kawatte iku!

(Shows Jim with Stephane and Yang)

Michi naru sekai

(Shows Kane with Irileth)

no yume kara

(Shows Mars with Damien) mezamete!

(Goes back to Connor falling through the sky)

Kono hane wo hiroge

(He straightens himself mid-air and his fists glow with the golden light of his semblance)

tobitatsu!

(Shows the four generals in a circle)

Habata itara modoranai to itte! (Shows Mars, Jim, Connor and Kane)

Mezashita no wa

(Shows Mars and Damien fighting Jorge)

aoi aoi no sora!

(Kane and Irileth fire their semblances at Isabella) Tsukinuketara

(Shows Jim, Stephane and Yang fighting Wolf)

mitsukara to shitte! Furikiri

(Connor throws a punch at Michael)

hodo

(Shows Connor fist fighting Michael)

aoi aoi ano sora!

(Shows the four generals together) Aoi aoi

(Shows Daryl with a shadowy figure)

ano sora!

(Shows Connor standing up)

Aoi aoi ano sora!

(Shows the Beacon team standing on the naval platform in front of Daryl, the shadowy figure, and the four generals)

END


	21. Chapter 21- The Four Generals

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 21

The Four Generals

 **Here they are! The Four Generals! Reading back this chapter brought back some memories for sure, things get bloody quicker than I remember. Anyway, enjoy this. All their lives are truly at risk in this battle.**

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/jOz5mHKWaQ8 [GATE OP 1]

(Music starts)

(Note: Characters listed next show up at the same time as the letters in the video)

(Shows Yang)

(Shows Jim)

(Shows Irileth)

(Shows Kane)

(Shows Mars)

(Shows Damien)

(Shows Ruby)

(Shows Connor)

(Quickly shows the letters of the title)

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS (Shows Connor walking down the corridor of Beacon)

Toku ni nani mo nozomu koto (Connor looks behind him)

nante nai!

(Ruby is behind him)

Minihodo wa shite

(She smiles at him) iru sa!

(Yang comes out of her room) Sonna boku de sae mo

(She pretends to be grumpy but let's out a small smile)

oku no hou ni!

(Shows Irileth in the arena facing away)

Yuzuritakunai

(She spins around and faces forward)

ikou geedo wa

(Attacks with her dual energy whips)

arurashii!

(Shows Stephane walking away from the arena)

Mamorutte angai to

(He scowls angrily)

muzukashii ne!

(Shows Mars raising his fist into the air)

Aki-

(Shows Kane charging into battle) -ra-

(Shows Jim punching with his metal arm)

-meru

(Shows combat air ships leaving Beacon) wake ja nai kedo!

(The air ships arrive at the naval platform)

Aoi sora no hate

(Everyone jumps down from the air ships and lands on the naval platform)

tsunagatta machi no yukue

(They walk towards the soldiers) Kitto teki to wakari

(The soldiers fire at them)

aenai

(The team fires their semblances) dakedo

(Their semblances take out the soldiers)

iin ja nai!

(Shows Mars using Mystic State) Hirata tobira wa

(Shows Kane surrounded by dark clouds)

subete o kaete

(Shows Jim's muscles growing stronger)

yuku!

(Shows Daryl standing on the roof watching the battle)

Sora no akatsuki no you ni!

(Shows Michael in flying around in his dragon exo-suit)

Oh wow wow! (Shows Michelle teleport behind Irileth and Kane and swing her twin-blade at them) Oh wow wow!

(Shows Wolf slicing at Jim, Yang and Stephane with his claws)

Oh wow wow!

(Shows Jorge firing a chain gun at Mars and Damien)

Oh wow wow!

(Shows Mars, Connor, Jim and Kane trying to push a tank back) Oh wow wow!

(Shows Michael, Michelle, Wolf and Jorge)

(Shows Mars and Damien)

(Shows Yang, Jim and Stephane) (Shows Kane and Irileth)

(Shows Connor and Ruby)

(Shows them all cheering in a line)

Music: http/youtu.be/eksvmp7RtSQ

[FMAB OST- Clash of the Alchemists]

All the members of the newly formed assault group stood and watched patiently as the four generals casually strolled out of the huge steel doorway, it sliding closed behind them. They all knew this would be where the real fight would begin, where things would get intermediately tougher. It was because of this that they stood and waited for their enemy to come to them, only a fool would rush headfirst into battle against an mostly unknown enemy.

Damien had briefed the rest of the group on what he knew of the four generals on the way to the naval base, although there were holes in his information. Despite that they knew the basic facts about the four, and could put names to faces.

The first of them was perhaps the most peculiar, the one that Damien hadn't even expected to be on the battlefield as he usually worked as the department's scientist, developing new technology for them to take into the war against crime. Damien had told them his name was Michael Hydra. It was evident from his attire, a white science coat and glasses, that he was still the resident scientist for the base. It was what was over his coat however that made him peculiar. He was fitted in a large robotic exoskeleton, a head or two taller than a person and much bulkier. The strangest thing was that it was made to look like a dragon, a metal mask covering his eyes and forehead along with metal wings, a tail and claws on the ends of the arms. He was strapped in all across his body, some straps on his arms, legs, and even his chest. He looked like a walking tank, in dragon form that is. Connor hoped he didn't start breathing fire, but did notice a weak point. While the exoskeleton itself was heavily armoured, the front of open, giving a clean path to Michael himself.

The second of the generals was Wolf Saturn, codenamed after his weapons, metal claws attached to his gloves that looked as if they could rip through titanium. Other than that, he wore a sleeveless tank top and power armour leggings, the same power armour that the troops had been wearing. As expected of his name, his hair was ruffles and his sideburns were lengthy and shaggy.

The third one of the group was Jorge, his last name lost to the ages. Damien had spoken of him familiarly, but said he hadn't ever been a part of the Outlaws, so they must have picked him up from somewhere else. He was a bulky looking man, wearing a full suit of the white power armour except for the helmet, showing off his skinhead style hair and a tattoo of a lizard on his cheek. Information on him was the most limited, but his aura gave off a nasty feeling.

The last of the four was the one that Damien said had the most authority of them all, Isabella Charon, wearing a female's suit of white power armour. He remembered her well from her days as an Outlaw, her sword skills were unmatched, despite her lack of a semblance just like all her current teammates. She had challenged many in the sparring arena of the Outlaws base and defeated them all, as well as being a devil woman on the battlefield. Damien had theorised she'd give them the most trouble, but he still warned the others of the danger of the other three Enforcer Generals. One thing Connor did notice that all four had in common was that they all had hefty steel backpacks on them, carrying barrels of something along with them, two each.

Music: https/youtu.be/tuAUAuilk0s

[Log Horizon OST- Tatakau Kakugo]

Without a word of taunting or warning, the generals then began their fierce attack. Michael launched himself forward, flying through the air low to the ground with the aid of his dragon exoskeleton. Before he reached the team and landed a hit, Connor barrelled into his side mid air and knocked him over to the left side of the massive platform crying out, "I got this one!" Michael tried to control his flight but Connor grabbed his head and drove into the metal ground with a crunch as the other generals approached.

The second to charge was Wolf, who dashed forward towards Jim at lightning speed, intending to start cutting him up with his claws right away. His valiant attack was stopped however, by Jim's surprisingly strong metal arm uppercutting him under the chin. He stumbled back after the hit, he had not been expecting to take a hit so early, especially such a tough blow. Before he could move, Jim was on him again, accompanied by Yang, who had activated her gauntlets. The two of them simultaneously punched Wolf hard in the back of the head, right as Stephane stepped up and rammed his back with his rocky great-shield and together the three of them declared, "This one's ours!"

Next, in a sudden flash, Isabella was in front of Kane. She took out a double ended twin-blade from her back and swung it at Kane much faster than he had expected, leaving him only just enough time to block with his scythes crossed over his chest. Rushing over to help Kane, Irileth then swirled her energy whips at Isabella whilst cursing, "Bitch!" Isabella reacted impeccably swiftly, seemingly teleporting away from Irileth's strike before it hit her and reappearing a ways in front of the pair. "How did she do that?" Irileth wondered. "Damien said they don't have semblances..."

As for the last remaining general, Jorge, he stayed where he was in front of the great steel doors of the base, staring down Mars and Damien. Holding his hands by his side, he then charged up a transparent blue aura around them, which solidified and formed into a sea blue, see through heavy machine gun. He wasted no time firing it off, sending a storm of bullets towards Mars and Damien. Mars brought up a translucent green shield to stop the bullets in their tracks, whilst Damien used his wind semblance to hold the bullets in place in front of it, but Jorge didn't seem to be running out of ammo.

Music: http/youtu.be/KrFQ7iK7EwA

[Fairy Tail OST- Black Flame]

Connor grinned confidently over at his teammates in their respective battles as he stood up after grinding Michael's face into the ground, who was now unmoving. All of a sudden he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye, just a second before Michael shot up to his feet and punched Connor in the belly with his metal dragon exoskeleton claw, sending him flying back along the ground.

Connor was on his hands and knees after that attack, finding it hard to breathe for a few seconds. The hit to his stomach had winded him, and it hurt quite a bit too. Michael packed a serious punch whilst in that exoskeleton. He kept his grip on his katana though, and raced forward with it, preparing for a sideways slash. Michael however reacted way too quickly, grabbing the katana with one of his metal claws and snapping it in two effortlessly. He then threw a punch towards Connor with his other claw, which he turned to the side to avoid. Next as a counter, he grabbed the steel arm while it was still outstretched and pulled, throwing Michael in that direction.

That didn't go so well though, Michael was able to quickly find his feet and land without a scratch. Connor scowled in annoyance and flicked his arms, his duel arm blades extending out from his gauntlets. He then rushed forward as Michael did the same and the two attacks met each other head on, both smashing into each and pushing with all their might. Michael's exoskeleton proved its strength again however, extending out it's arms with such force that it shattered Connor's arm blades and even the gauntlets they were attached to into many small pieces.

"Damn you." Connor cursed, stepping back from his opponent while he had the chance. He then accepted he would have to fight without his weapons and rolled his sleeves up to the elbow, golden light appearing around his hands as he activated his semblance. "I'll beat you with my bare hands, come at me!" He then bravely challenged, and Michael came.

All the way over on the other side of the platform, Kane and Irileth's fight against Isabella Charon had begun. She and Kane were in a stare down, both with their weapons in hand waiting for the other to attack whilst Irileth watched from a distance, just as ready. Kane could tell from her battle pose alone that Isabella would be a tough opponent, she had the posture of a master swords woman, and had already proven her expertise with her double ended twin-blade. While he was thinking this, she suddenly disappeared from in front of him. Staying silent as to not let the enemy know of his uncertainty, he looked around without dropping his battle pose, trying to locate her.

Suddenly, Kane not being at all ready for her, she appeared squatting right in front of him as he looked over his shoulder. He barely had time to turn his head back and see her before she slashed with her twin-blade, cutting at his knee. Blood spilled out of the wound, but luckily it wasn't deep enough to cut off his leg or render it useless, he could still stand.

Wincing ever so slightly from the pain as he watched his blood splatter across the metal platform, Kane swung his scythe down at her head, only for her two disappear again. This time she promptly reappeared behind him and, once again before he had time to react, slashed her blade through his side. Once again blood spilled out of the cut, but much more this time, it was a deeper blow and Kane actually started to think he might be in trouble if he lost too much more blood. Luckily before Isabella could get another hit in, Irileth shifted her whips into duel pistol form and fired off rounds of purple energy at her. Isabella disappeared again, easily avoiding being hit, and then reappeared in front of them a ways.

Running up to his side to check on him as his previously jet black trench coat became stained red, Irileth urgently asked Kane, "Are you gonna be ok?"

"Please." Kane simply replied, acting as if the blows he had taken were nothing at all. He was not wholly telling the truth however, he could feel his side burning as blood continued to leak from it, and it pained him so to stand on his leg that he half expected it to buckle under the strain any second. "Injuries like this won't keep me down." He said regardless. "Just a little bit of blood, I've had worse." He had in fact, he found his mind going back to when he had had his arm blown off years ago just before entering Connor's mind.

As for the fight against Wolf, Jim, Stephane and Yang would soon not be having a fun time. At first they all stood in a group, covering each other's sides. Jim took the initiative and launched one of his boomerangs towards Wolf, confident it would hit. However Wolf swiftly back stepped just out of its reach, and then seemingly disappeared just like Isabella had; except more gradually.

"Where'd he go?" Jim wondered out loud, looking around for the enemy just like Kane had done before being hit.

"He's still around here, I can sense his aura. Don't let down your guard." Stephane responded, and after some quick thinking deduced, "He must have gone invisible."

"Invisible?" Jim repeated in confusion. "Didn't Damien say these guys don't have semblances? You don't think he-agh!"

The reason for Jim's abrupt cut-off was soon revealed as Yang and Stephane twirled around to look at him. Their eyes widened in horror as they saw the claws that Wolf had attached to his hands stabbed through Jim's lower torso, and Wolf himself standing behind him. Jim was gurgling as blood was spiking out of his mouth, being pushed up by the claws piercing through the him.

Feeling a sudden rush of anger run through her, Yang immediately punched her fists together and activated her semblance, then blasted a fiery shotgun shell at Wolf. Wolf then abruptly disappeared again, assumedly once more invisible, and the blast zoomed past where he had been standing and hit a steel wall with an enormous bang.

Luckily Jim didn't fall down, but neither did he look in good shape. He swayed back and forth on his feet, looking as if he could lose his balance any minute, and his face was starting to get pale. He coughed up a large amount of blood before Yang reached him whilst Stephane stayed on guard, clutching his wound with his hand as the blood trickled over it.

"Jim?!" Yang desperately called to him, waving her hand in front of his face and shaking him perhaps a little too roughly. "Jim?! Stay with me!"

"I'm...I'm...okay..." Jim weakly mumbled, really starting to feel the effect of the blood loss. While Kane had only been cut, albeit deeply, Jim had been stabbed straight through meaning a lot more blood vessels were ruptured and leaking. "I can...still stand...I think..." He groaned, barely able to keep on his feet despite his words.

Yang felt so useless at that moment, Jim was hurt and there was nothing so could do to help. At least Stephane was guarding the two of them, but she had no medical training and so had no idea what she should do. As she began to panic however, then it came to her. She thought back to a time when she and the rest of her team had been hunting Grimm in Forever Fall, how she'd been badly injured and she had seared the wound shit with a makeshift torch to stop the bleeding.

"Sorry, this'll hurt." She warned Jim, standing him up straight to get a good aim. Before he could protest, she then coated her gauntlet with fire using her semblance and punched it straight onto Jim's wound, his face lighting up in pain as he screamed as reflex. Stephane looked over his shoulder to see what was going on and saw Jim on his knees clutching his torso where Yang had hit him, then grew concerned.

Gently moving Jim's arms out of the way as he winced and sobbed from the sensation of his wound, Yang inspected the wound again. Through the hole that was know present in his jacket and shirt, she saw that she had successfully seared the wound shut and made it so he wouldn't lose any more blood. He would be all right.

"Yang..." Jim mumbled as the pain died down, remaining on his knees at Yang got down on hers and put her hands on his cheeks affectionately.

"I'm so sorry, it must have hurt so much." Yang apologised sincerely, fighting to hold back the tears at the thought of what she had just done to him.

"Wait...he didn't hit any of my organs." Jim told her, his voice croaky and sore.

"What do you mean?" Yang replied in confusion, not understanding what he was getting at.

"Think about it...an expertly trained dude liked him, he should've been pretty on target right?" Jim explained, his voice starting to return to normal but his breath limited. "He's toying with us, he missed my vital organs on purpose so that I wouldn't die just yet..."

"Why would he do that?" Yang scowled, angry at the thought of it. "What kind of psychotic little bastard-"

Yang was then cut off just as Jim had been cut off earlier by a distressed yell from Stephane. They looked over to him to see the left side of his face covered in blood, three claw like scratches running across it, past his now useless left eye. The scratches started on his forehead and went along his eye all the way down to the top of his cheekbone. Yang and Jim instantly knew that Wolf must have uncloaked, attacked Stephane while he was off guard, and then become invisible again.

Mars also heard the scream, still combining his shield with Damien's semblance to hold back the barrage of bullets being fired at them by Jorge's machine gun. "Mars!" He heard Damien call over to him, as both of them still held their hands out in front of them to power their semblances. "How much longer can we keep this up?!"

"Not long!" Mars responded pessimistically, although it was the truth. "It's only a matter of time before my aura runs out and the shield starts to weaken!" Right as he finished his sentence, Mars then felt a sharp bullet whizz past the side of his head, leaving a bleeding scratch behind. He looked back at his shield and saw the hole it had gotten through, which meant it was already happening. He was already running low on aura and the bullets were beginning to break through the shield. His semblance couldn't keep up such a heavy duty shield for very long, they needed another plan.

Sliding backwards on his feet after blocking a hit from Michael, Connor scanned the battlefield, seeing the less than hopeful situations his allies were in and growing extremely worried for them, he was glad he hadn't let Ruby be a part of this, that she was safe in his head.

"It isn't looking too good for the rest of your team, is it?" Michael taunted to get back Connor's attention, speaking in a slightly squeaky, nerdy sounding voice.

Feeling angry at his enemies taunting, Connor felt his semblance getting stronger. He hadn't used the Kalos Crystal yet, he was rising to the sort of power he had used against Mars in the tournament. "Let's change that shall we?" He dramatically declared, the golden light of his semblance having snaked it's way up his forearms and began orbiting around him. "We'll start with you."

Ending Music: https/youtu.be/KruXhNuindw [Naruto Shippuden OP 3 V2]

(Shows Damien on the left and Connor on the right)

Habata itara

(Shows Damien's flintlock pistol and Connor's Katana)

modoranai to itte!

(Shows Connor's eye, then Damien's eye, then Ruby's eye with a tear)

Mezashita no wa

(Shows Connor on his knees in front of a shadowy figure)

aoi aoi no sora!

OUTLAWS AND OUTLAWS

(Shows Connor falling through the sky towards the naval platform) Kanashimi wa mada obeorarezu! Setsunasa wa ima tsukami

(Shows Connor floating next to Damien)

hajimete! Anata e to daku kono kanjou mo!

(Shows Ruby holding her hands to her chest)

Ima kotoba ni kawatte iku!

(Shows Jim with Stephane and Yang)

Michi naru sekai

(Shows Kane with Irileth)

no yume kara

(Shows Mars with Damien) mezamete!

(Goes back to Connor falling through the sky)

Kono hane wo hiroge

(He straightens himself mid-air and his fists glow with the golden light of his semblance)

tobitatsu!

(Shows the four generals in a circle)

Habata itara modoranai to itte! (Shows Mars, Jim, Connor and Kane)

Mezashita no wa

(Shows Mars and Damien fighting Jorge)

aoi aoi no sora!

(Kane and Irileth fire their semblances at Isabella) Tsukinuketara

(Shows Jim, Stephane and Yang fighting Wolf)

mitsukara to shitte! Furikiri

(Connor throws a punch at Michael)

hodo

(Shows Connor fist fighting Michael)

aoi aoi ano sora!

(Shows the four generals together) Aoi aoi

(Shows Daryl with a shadowy figure)

ano sora!

(Shows Connor standing up)

Aoi aoi ano sora!

(Shows the Beacon team standing on the naval platform in front of Daryl, the shadowy figure, and the four generals)

END


	22. Chapter 22- Kane's Battle

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 22

Kane's Battle

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/jOz5mHKWaQ8 [GATE OP 1]

(Music starts)

(Note: Characters listed next show up at the same time as the letters in the video)

(Shows Yang)

(Shows Jim)

(Shows Irileth)

(Shows Kane)

(Shows Mars)

(Shows Damien)

(Shows Ruby)

(Shows Connor)

(Quickly shows the letters of the title)

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS (Shows Connor walking down the corridor of Beacon)

Toku ni nani mo nozomu koto (Connor looks behind him)

nante nai!

(Ruby is behind him)

Minihodo wa shite

(She smiles at him) iru sa!

(Yang comes out of her room) Sonna boku de sae mo

(She pretends to be grumpy but let's out a small smile)

oku no hou ni!

(Shows Irileth in the arena facing away)

Yuzuritakunai

(She spins around and faces forward)

ikou geedo wa

(Attacks with her dual energy whips)

arurashii!

(Shows Stephane walking away from the arena)

Mamorutte angai to

(He scowls angrily)

muzukashii ne!

(Shows Mars raising his fist into the air)

Aki-

(Shows Kane charging into battle) -ra-

(Shows Jim punching with his metal arm)

-meru

(Shows combat air ships leaving Beacon) wake ja nai kedo!

(The air ships arrive at the naval platform)

Aoi sora no hate

(Everyone jumps down from the air ships and lands on the naval platform)

tsunagatta machi no yukue

(They walk towards the soldiers) Kitto teki to wakari

(The soldiers fire at them)

aenai

(The team fires their semblances) dakedo

(Their semblances take out the soldiers)

iin ja nai!

(Shows Mars using Mystic State) Hirata tobira wa

(Shows Kane surrounded by dark clouds)

subete o kaete

(Shows Jim's muscles growing stronger)

yuku!

(Shows Daryl standing on the roof watching the battle)

Sora no akatsuki no you ni!

(Shows Michael in flying around in his dragon exo-suit)

Oh wow wow! (Shows Michelle teleport behind Irileth and Kane and swing her twin-blade at them) Oh wow wow!

(Shows Wolf slicing at Jim, Yang and Stephane with his claws)

Oh wow wow!

(Shows Jorge firing a chain gun at Mars and Damien)

Oh wow wow!

(Shows Mars, Connor, Jim and Kane trying to push a tank back) Oh wow wow!

(Shows Michael, Michelle, Wolf and Jorge)

(Shows Mars and Damien)

(Shows Yang, Jim and Stephane) (Shows Kane and Irileth)

(Shows Connor and Ruby)

(Shows them all cheering in a line)

 _The battle had only just begun, and yet it raged fiercely._

"Bastard!" Connor shouted at his opponent, Michael, as he threw a golden light enveloped punch. Michael was easily able to block the hit by crossing the metal exoskeleton arms over his chest defensively, then pushed them out to knock Connor back. "Son of a bitch!" Connor cursed, Michael continuing to ignore the insults one after the other.

In the centre of the platform, Wolf had once again activated his invisibility as Stephane stood ready in front of Yang, who had Jim leaning on her to stand up straight. Just in time, Stephane sharply turned around to stop a claw from digging into Yang's face, the claw then vanishing back into nothingness. The three of them all backed up, forming a circle to cover all their sides as Stephane tried to think of a way they could track him.

Meanwhile Mars and Damien kept up their barrier as the bullets from Jorge's machine gun stormed towards endlessly. Mars knew the shield would fail soon, their aura wasn't enough to keep it up forever. Just as he thought that a second bullet whizzed past him, scraping his ankle and drawing blood, a sign that they wouldn't be able to hold out that way for long.

Kane and Irileth were the ones most at risk at that time though, Isabella hadn't let up her attack for even one second and it was making her extremely difficult to deal with. Every time Kane tried to strike her, she teleported out of way and reappeared behind him or to his side, making he so he couldn't react fast enough to to block her, so Irileth had to jump in to save him. Unfortunately Isabella would then simply teleport away from Irileth's attack and reappear near her, meaning Kane would have to protect her, starting the cycle all over again. Kane knew that without Irileth with him he would likely be dead, but if the cycle kept being repeated, eventually they'd grow tired and get hurt. On top of that, using his semblance was dangerous, as there was a significant chance he could hit his allies with it by mistake. Plus he needed to save his aura for the later battle against the leader of it all, Daryl.

Once again Isabella teleported to his side and he attempted to hit her, and once again she teleported only to be targeted by Irileth. When she teleported away from that attack however, she appeared at an angle behind Kane that Irileth couldn't reach, making it impossible for her to save him. She was learning quickly.

With no time to turn and block, Kane gave in and slammed his hand down on the ground, releasing the dark clouds of his semblance. The clouds spread out in a blast radius around him, forcing Isabella to teleport away. This time she acted differently however, kneeling on one knee at a safe distance instead of trying to overwhelm the pair with a flurry of attacks, suggesting that Kane's semblance at been enough to at least temporarily ward her off.

Kane and Irileth then stood in a back to back formation, covering all their sides in case Isabella tried to teleport to one of their blind spots. "You still doing ok?" Irileth asked Kane, glancing down at his damaged knee and blood stained coat.

After a brief silence, making Irileth think he wasn't going to answer. Whilst still looking at Isabella in front of him, he then responded, "You should just go, I handle this. You help Connor."

"Screw that, I'm not going anywhere!" Irileth snapped back at him, annoyed at the mere thought. "Connor can fight for himself, she'll kill you if I'm not here to help!"

"This isn't a game!" Kane angrily responded. "Go before you get hurt!"

Just as he mentioned that, Isabella had snapped out of her unmoving state and teleported in front of Irileth. She slashed forward with her twin-blade, Irileth countering with her energy whips but the enemy teleporting before the blow landed. Isabella then reappeared to the side of Irileth, Kane turning around to hit her with his scythes. Of course she teleported again, but this time was directly behind Irileth. Kane had no time to react before one end Isabella's blade was slashed down Irileth's back, blood spurting out behind her and all over Isabella's face and armour.

Feeling a sudden surge of anger as Irileth fell to her knees, Kane charged up dark clouds in his hands and shot a blast of them at Isabella. Once again she teleported out of the way and reappeared to Kane's side, slashing her blade his way. To her surprise, instead of trying block the hit, Kane grabbed the blade with his hand. It cut deeply into his palm, dark blood leaking out over the steel, but Kane didn't let go. His dark clouds snaked down his arm and across the blade, holding it in place.

Suddenly becoming wary of Kane, Isabella charged up her aura to attempt a teleport, but her face filled with shock and confusion as she found she couldn't. "What have you done to me?" She questioned in a slightly posh voice, speaking for the first time in their fight. "Why can't I teleport?"

"A better question would be why you can in the first place, since you're not supposed to have a semblance." Kane snarled back at her, his eyes filled with dark fury as he gripped the blade tighter and stopped her from escaping. He then noticed the steel cage on her back, that inside it carried two big storage tanks. He had wondered what was inside those containers, since all four of the generals carried them, now he's figured it out. "Those cylinders you all carry on your back, they're how you have semblances." He theorised. "Somehow, they create artificial semblances and the tanks are there to fill you with aura. If they were gone, you wouldn't be able to teleport and your allies would lose their powers too."

"You're a clever one, aren't you?" Isabella mockingly replied, pushing more on her blade in an attempt to cut it through Kane's hand, but the black clouds held her back. "Knowing that won't do you any good though, Master Daryl wants you dead and so it shall be done."

Kane then took a quick glance back at Irileth, seeing she was on her knees and bleeding profusely, but still breathing. For now, she was alive but he needed to finish it quickly. The aura tanks would be his first target and he knew exactly how he'd destroy them. "Irileth!" He called out to her, still struggling to keep Isabella at bay with his semblance. "Can you move?"

"I...I think so..." Irileth weakly mumbled, managing to push herself up to her feet while wincing from the cut on her back. From Kane's observations it wasn't terribly deep, she'd survive. What he was worried about was the amount of blood she was losing, he wasn't sure how long she had until she would pass out.

"You need to get out of here, listen to me this time!" He urged her, feeling the grip of his dark clouds on Isabella's blade starting to slip as she pushed it closer to his face.

"Hell...no..." Irileth still argued, falling to her knees again and crawling over to where Kane was locked in his power struggle with Isabella. "I'm not...about to...go...anywhere...without you..."

"Why the hell not? Get to safety!" Kane ordered her, growing angry at her stubbornness as he felt the steel sword digging deeper into his hand.

By that point Irileth had reached Kane, still crawling on her hands and knees, her face looking extremely pale. She held onto Kane's back, wrapping her arms around him...and kissed him on the cheek. Feeling the affectionate peck, Kane looked over his shoulder at her and whilst somehow not blushing or acting at all embarrassed, snapped at her, "Why the hell did you do that?!"

"I did it because I love you..." Irileth told him, her voice becoming weaker as her eyelids dropped and her grip on consciousness started to leave her. "I've loved you...since we were kids. We were...there for each other...all the time. I missed you..." Before she finished, her eyes closed and she slumped off of Kane's back, landing on her back on the cold metal ground. Her face was becoming whiter as the blood continued to flow from her open wound, Kane completely helpless whilst still struggling with Isabella.

Not wasting a moment after Irileth had stopped moving, Kane reached his hand into the inside pocket of his black coat, his expression turning to a furious scowl. When he pulled out his hand, he held in it the Kalos Crystal clone Damien had given him, the one use only version that he had created in a lab. Isabella instantly recognised it and her face immediately became filled with even more wariness and even a little fear.

"I had planned to save this for your boss..." Kane snarled at her through gritted teeth as his dark clouds intensified and his fury rose beyond what it had ever before. "But I'll make an exception, so that I can kill you for what you've done!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the tiny crystal in his hand began to glow, the light quickly shining stronger and shooting off forked purple lighting all around. Kane held on tight to the crystal and closed his eyes.

[Stop Music]

When he opened his eyes he saw that he was within the realm of Kalos, it was exactly as Connor had described it, absolutely white and barren apart from one structure. A stone wall many metres high, with a green runic circle engraved on to it between two supporting pillars, and on top of it sat Kalos himself.

"Well, this is interesting..." Kalos boomed down to Kane in his omnipresent voice, dangling his legs over the edge of the stone wall as he perched on it as usual. "I didn't think you'd be the one to call me, I am surprised...but pleasantly."

"I didn't think I'd see you either." Kane replied sternly, his emotions still high from what had just happened on the battlefield. "Aren't you supposed to be in Connor's head?"

"That is simply a temporary posting, due to the fact that he possesses my almighty crystal." Kalos explained, elevating himself above Kane with his words even as he did so. "It would seem however that even when a clone crystal is used, I am summoned and required to heed its call. Well...not required, if I wanted to I could let you die, but I'm in a particularly good mood today. I have much enjoyed conversing with Miss Ruby Rose."

"You really are up your own arse, aren't you?" Kane scoffed, unimpressed by the speech.

"If that is what you wish to think of me, then so be it. I have no reason to make you obey me." Kalos responded calmly, ignoring the insult Kane had throw at him. "I assume you are here because you seek the divine power of the crystal?"

"That's right, I need to kill that bitch." Kane answered, scowled at the thought of his female opponent.

"Such language is...unnecessary." Kalos casually scolded, again calmly addressing Kane. "But it is of no consequence, I shall grant you the divine power of my crystal, as long as you hand me a chunk of your aura when your engagement with the lady is completed."

"Yeah, as long as you give me long enough to tear her limb from limb for what she's done." Kane snarled back up at him, directing his anger towards the only other being present. "Come on!" He then shouted impatiently. "Give it to me!"

"Silly mortal..." Kalos muttered to himself as the white landscape was covered by a blinding light. "Anger is for the weak, my power comes from something more..."

Music: https/youtu.be/bB_Qpt7TqLM

[Fairy Tail OST- Kurogane]

Back in the land of mortals, Kane's dark clouds suddenly intensified and exploded outwards, blasting Isabella backwards. She flipped through the air for a few seconds and then landed on perfectly on her feet, sticking her blade in the ground to stop herself sliding backwards. She looked up at Kane, in fright of what was happening to him, knowing how much his power had grown.

As she watched, the dark clouds around Kane moulded and transformed, creating shapes around him. A dark cloud mask covered his face, more dark clouds covered his arms like armour, even more circling around him and clinging to his back like a cape. The last of the clouds gathered in his right hand, shifting into the shape of a longsword.

"Now I've reached the potential of my Titan powers..." Kane announced, snarling at Isabella angrily as Irileth remained unconscious on the ground. "This is...Knight State!"

"Knight State or not, you can't win if you can't hit me! I'll teleport away from all your clouds!" Isabella reminded him, still confident she could avoid all of his attacks.

"That's where you're wrong." Kane threateningly told her, holding his free hand up in front of him. Right as he said so, Isabella noticed a pressure building on her back and looked over her shoulder to see dark clouds. A tiny cluster had appeared attached to the aura tanks that were powering her artificial semblance of teleportation, and was growing rapidly. "My dark clouds are more powerful than ever now, they'll consume you." Kane warned her menacingly as the clouds came to cover her entire backpack. "Once they crush your aura tanks, no more teleporting for you."

Seeing the worry in Isabella's eyes, he then clenched his fist. As he did so the cluster of dark clouds on her back exploded outwards, crushing her aura tanks. She screeched in pain as the clouds seared against her back, the force of them tearing right through her armour and leaving it in tatters. She fell to her knees as her backpack turned to ash, her teleportation ability no more as she grasped the handle of her twin-blade ever tighter.

Kane wasted no time watching her suffer, he dashed forward with his dark cloud sword in hand and slashed it towards her. She reacted quickly, bringing her own weapon up to block it, only for it to be shattered in many small pieces as as soon as Kane's own sword hit it. He then grabbed her shirt under what was left of her armour, and roughly threw her away from him. She smashed into the metal ground hard, rolling around before stopping and laying there, hurt.

Kane still didn't stop however, he had more in him. He jumped high into the air, building up his dark clouds all around him as he went. He then hovered in the air held up by his clouds as they formed into a massive black storm above him. By this point Isabella had started to get up, and Kane scowled down at her with more anger, wanting her to never rise again. He thrust his sword forward in the air, and when he did so meteor like clusters of his black clouds rained down from the storm above him as he yelled, "DARK RAIN!"

The clusters all hit the ground around Isabella like like mighty meteorites, exploding outwards with unbelievable force and brutality. After only a couple of seconds Isabella was lost in the chaos, no sign of her seek by anyone. Connor saw how well Kane's fight was now going and grinned as Michael called out Isabella's name. Mars and Damien looked behind them and also grinned at the carnage, Jorge slowing his gunfire out of shock. Even Wolf came out of his invisible state to gawp at the sight of it.

[Stop Music]

When the dust died down, Isabella was on her hands and knees, coughing and covered in bruises. Blood dropped from her right arm, which had been crumpled like a paper ball by the force of the attack. Kane was surprised she had survived, but that wouldn't be the case for much longer.

"Why...?" Isabella mumbled, weak and almost defeated. "Why...do you fight us? We are only protecting the world from criminal scum by Master Daryl's word, by his way. Why would you go so far to destroy us?"

Music: https/youtu.be/kIwmrk7LoDk

[Fairy Tail OST- Main Theme]

"Why?" Kane repeated, gritting his teeth as he prepared for the final attack. "Because you hurt people...you hurt my friends...you hurt Irileth..." He then dramatically stuck his hand up in the air above his head, calling upon his semblance one more time. As he concentrated his power, the dark clouds assembled, the cluster growing and growing until it took the form of an enormous black cloud sword. The sword was stories tall and thick too, looking big enough to stop a giant, but blunt like a hammer. "The reason I'm fighting you..." Kane then concluded. "Is because you're sick in the head!"

He then brought his hand forward and downwards in front of him, the great-sword above him obeying his commands and swinging downwards at his enemy. In a flash it crushed Isabella underneath itself, her body crumpling underneath its weight.

[Stop Music]

As the dark clouds all then dispersed, Kane stood hunched over slightly, feeling the effect going into Knight State had on his body. He then felt a sudden pang of pain as his aura was sucked out of him by Kalos, keeping up his part of the deal, and collapsed to the ground in exhaustion.

At about the same time, Ruby sat holding her knees up to her chest in the white landscape of Connor's mind. She had been watching the fighting through Connor's eyes and seen all that had happened. She had seen Irileth, Jim and Stephane all being hurt and now she was wallowing in sadness and fear for their lives. She had known the mission would be dangerous, but this was beyond what she had anticipated.

After a brief flash of light, Kalos reappeared on top of the stone wall he always say on. Not too long ago he had told Ruby that Kane had activated his Kalos Crystal and that he must go and converse with him. Ruby had then watched as Kane took down his opponent and fell to the ground after having his energy sapped from him. "Well, that was certainly an interesting venture." Kalos stated as he carelessly dangled his legs over the edge of the wall he perched on like always. "You weren't lonely without me, were you Miss Rose?"

Still sitting in the same position, Ruby quietly mumbled, "Is he going to be ok? He fell over after he won."

"I assure you, he will be quite fine." Kalos responded. "Just a case of minor aura exhaustion, he'll be up soon enough."

As Ruby hugged herself tighter hoping Connor would be alright, Kalos muttered to himself, "He is such a good source of energy for me...I won't drain him just yet."

Ending Music: https/youtu.be/KruXhNuindw [Naruto Shippuden OP 3 V2]

(Shows Damien on the left and Connor on the right)

Habata itara

(Shows Damien's flintlock pistol and Connor's Katana)

modoranai to itte!

(Shows Connor's eye, then Damien's eye, then Ruby's eye with a tear)

Mezashita no wa

(Shows Connor on his knees in front of a shadowy figure)

aoi aoi no sora!

OUTLAWS AND OUTLAWS

(Shows Connor falling through the sky towards the naval platform) Kanashimi wa mada obeorarezu! Setsunasa wa ima tsukami

(Shows Connor floating next to Damien)

hajimete! Anata e to daku kono kanjou mo!

(Shows Ruby holding her hands to her chest)

Ima kotoba ni kawatte iku!

(Shows Jim with Stephane and Yang)

Michi naru sekai

(Shows Kane with Irileth)

no yume kara

(Shows Mars with Damien) mezamete!

(Goes back to Connor falling through the sky)

Kono hane wo hiroge

(He straightens himself mid-air and his fists glow with the golden light of his semblance)

tobitatsu!

(Shows the four generals in a circle)

Habata itara modoranai to itte! (Shows Mars, Jim, Connor and Kane)

Mezashita no wa

(Shows Mars and Damien fighting Jorge)

aoi aoi no sora!

(Kane and Irileth fire their semblances at Isabella) Tsukinuketara

(Shows Jim, Stephane and Yang fighting Wolf)

mitsukara to shitte! Furikiri

(Connor throws a punch at Michael)

hodo

(Shows Connor fist fighting Michael)

aoi aoi ano sora!

(Shows the four generals together) Aoi aoi

(Shows Daryl with a shadowy figure)

ano sora!

(Shows Connor standing up)

Aoi aoi ano sora!

(Shows the Beacon team standing on the naval platform in front of Daryl, the shadowy figure, and the four generals)

END


	23. Chapter 23- Beatdown

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 23

Beatdown

 **First of all, apologies for the delay. I've been job searching like crazy and I finally got one, so now I have a bit more time to concentrate on this. I also am going to start writing Volume 6 very soon, which I have wanted to write for so long. I'm very excited. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 23

Beatdown

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/jOz5mHKWaQ8 [GATE OP 1]

(Music starts)

(Note: Characters listed next show up at the same time as the letters in the video)

(Shows Yang)

(Shows Jim)

(Shows Irileth)

(Shows Kane)

(Shows Mars)

(Shows Damien)

(Shows Ruby)

(Shows Connor)

(Quickly shows the letters of the title)

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS (Shows Connor walking down the corridor of Beacon)

Toku ni nani mo nozomu koto (Connor looks behind him)

nante nai!

(Ruby is behind him)

Minihodo wa shite

(She smiles at him) iru sa!

(Yang comes out of her room) Sonna boku de sae mo

(She pretends to be grumpy but let's out a small smile)

oku no hou ni!

(Shows Irileth in the arena facing away)

Yuzuritakunai

(She spins around and faces forward)

ikou geedo wa

(Attacks with her dual energy whips)

arurashii!

(Shows Stephane walking away from the arena)

Mamorutte angai to

(He scowls angrily)

muzukashii ne!

(Shows Mars raising his fist into the air)

Aki-

(Shows Kane charging into battle) -ra-

(Shows Jim punching with his metal arm)

-meru

(Shows combat air ships leaving Beacon) wake ja nai kedo!

(The air ships arrive at the naval platform)

Aoi sora no hate

(Everyone jumps down from the air ships and lands on the naval platform)

tsunagatta machi no yukue

(They walk towards the soldiers) Kitto teki to wakari

(The soldiers fire at them)

aenai

(The team fires their semblances) dakedo

(Their semblances take out the soldiers)

iin ja nai!

(Shows Mars using Mystic State) Hirata tobira wa

(Shows Kane surrounded by dark clouds)

subete o kaete

(Shows Jim's muscles growing stronger)

yuku!

(Shows Daryl standing on the roof watching the battle)

Sora no akatsuki no you ni!

(Shows Michael in flying around in his dragon exo-suit)

Oh wow wow! (Shows Michelle teleport behind Irileth and Kane and swing her twin-blade at them) Oh wow wow!

(Shows Wolf slicing at Jim, Yang and Stephane with his claws)

Oh wow wow!

(Shows Jorge firing a chain gun at Mars and Damien)

Oh wow wow!

(Shows Mars, Connor, Jim and Kane trying to push a tank back) Oh wow wow!

(Shows Michael, Michelle, Wolf and Jorge)

(Shows Mars and Damien)

(Shows Yang, Jim and Stephane) (Shows Kane and Irileth)

(Shows Connor and Ruby)

(Shows them all cheering in a line)

Music: http/youtu.be/tuAUAuilk0s

[Log Horizon OST- Tatakau Kakugo]

"Kane!" Connor yelled out to his friend as he was pushed back by another blow from Michael's metal, dragon like exoskeleton, seeing his teammate fall to the ground next to Irileth just after finishing off his enemy. He desperately wanted to go and help him, but couldn't get past his own opponent, who kept blocking him and punching him back. "Out of my way, you bastard!" Connor shouted, charging forward and punching once again, only to be block by a thick metal arm and then punched in the stomach by the other. He was pushed back far by the blow, dropping to his knees as he once again tried to recover from being winded.

"You're not getting through." Michael told him, speaking for only the second time during their entire fight. All four of the Enforcer generals seemed to be like that, concentrating on taking down the intruders rather than chatting away mid fight. "This exoskeleton is made of chrome steel and designed to possess the strength of a dragon, you'll soon be watching your ally's last breaths."

Mars and Damien were concerned for two downed pair too, but we're also locked in an endless power struggle. Their shield created from the combined forces of their semblances wasn't going to hold up for much longer, but even if they ran and tried to reach Irileth and Kane, they'd be torn to shreds by Jorge's bullets. "How much longer do you reckon we've got?" Damien asked Mars as a bead of sweat ran down his neck from the effort of keeping the barrier active.

"I can only estimate, but I'd say may aura will hit rock bottom in about ten minutes, unless I do something about it." Mars answered, also feeling strained, something he hadn't experienced in years. "I could enter Mystic State and boost my power levels back up, but I'd need time. Without the shield that's time I won't have!"

"So what you're saying is, we're screwed unless someone helps us?" Damien groaned, a sharp pointed bullet cutting through the side of his hand, but he ignored the pain. "Kane and Irileth won't last much longer if we don't stop the bleeding, so let's hope someone gets over here soon!"

As for Stephane, Jim and Yang, they were still stationed in a circle with their backs to each other, looking out for their invisible enemy. Jim was still clutching his closed wound with one hand, wincing a little from occasional pains. Stephane's left eye had been cut right through by Wolf's claws, the three scratches starting at his forehead and running across his face, all the way down to his cheek. Yang had yet to be injured, but was just as wary as the other two.

"This is getting us nowhere, we need a way to find out where he is and I know how!" Stephane declared valiantly.

"What do you suggest?" Yang asked him, up for any ideas in their current situation.

"Something I learned in Mythril, if you concentrate hard enough you can pinpoint the enemies aura." Stephane explained, closing his eyes and starting to do just that.

"I never learnt that, so don't expect me to be able to!" Jim argued, not believing in Stephane's plan. "On top of that, they don't teach it at Beacon, so Yang definitely won't know how!"

"It's fine, I'll do it myself." Stephane told them, keeping his eyes closed and concentrating hard with his sword stabbed into the ground. After just a moment he could feel his allies aura around him, but that was the easy part, finding an enemies aura would be more difficult. After a few more moments though, he snapped open his eyes and pulled his sword out of the ground, swinging it in front of him and hitting the metal with a clang. "Damn, I just missed him!" He cursed, looking around to see where Wolf's aura signature had moved to. He quickly found it headed towards Jim and called out to him, "Jim, on your left!"

Heeding the warning, Jim swung a boomerang off in that direction, keeping the string in his hand. Blood then splattered in midair, only a small amount, but enough to confirm the hit. "You only nicked him, stay on guard!" Stephane reported, seeing Wolf's aura flowing through his entire body to work out where he'd been hit. His eyes then followed as Wolf headed for Yang, speedily switching targets.

Before he could even yell out to her, Yang screamed, blood spilling out from a deep cut running up her left side and stopping just under her armpit. Jim and Stephane both snapped their heads round in horror as they watched the red goop fall from her body. Stephane was impressed but also shocked by the speed at which Wolf had attacked, even whilst tracking his aura he couldn't move fast enough to even yell a warning. In another instant, Jim screamed with equal pain, three metal claws stabbing out of his chest from behind. Wolf hadn't missed any vital organs purposefully this time, he'd pierced right through the centre of Jim's body.

As the two fell to the ground, which was now covered in their own blood, Stephane felt extremely conflicted. He wanted to go and help his friends, stop the bleeding with his semblance, but if he stopped tracking Wolf's aura them he'd get hit too and then there would be no one to save them. Reluctantly he turned away from them, towards where he sensed Wolf was standing, as Yang and Jim weakly crawled towards each other.

Jim had managed to flip over onto his back, blood trickling out of his chest wound and staining his clothes. Yang had pulled herself towards him, her blood smearing the metal flooring beneath her. She grabbed hold his hand as her head was positioned above his, looking down at his face as her blonde hair dropped over it. His other hand came up, barely able to stay there without shaking, and settled on her cheek as he said to her, "You're so beautiful...you know that right?"

Her heart pumping faster as she heard those words from him, only causing her blood to leak out at a quicker rate, she muttered his name to herself weakly with tears in her eyes. He ignored her and said it again, his face and hers going pale from blood loss. After a few seconds of serene silence, she replied, "You're not so bad yourself..."

Those were her last words before she fell on top of Jim, her head landing on his chest as her strength left her and she stopped moving. Jim repeated her name and held onto her cheeks, "Yang? Yang? Yang?! YANG?!"

"YANG!" Connor then heard Ruby yell from inside his head, hearing her for the first time since they had arrived at the naval base, as he simultaneously yelled, "JIM!" After that, he ran forward in ignorance of the enemy standing right in front of him. Consequently he received a hard metal punch to the stomach, a single hit so hard his vision went blurry and he thought he might pass out. Michael then threw him off his fist, only stopping his journey through the air when he hit a hard metal wall back first. He could feel his consciousness slipping away and blood filled his mouth, coming up from his belly. He couldn't help Jim or Yang, he couldn't help Kane or Irileth. He felt so useless and pathetic.

"I've got you this time!" Stephane meanwhile declared triumphantly, dropping his sword and reaching out his hand towards his invisible opponent, still sensing his aura. Just as he had planned, his hand caught on to the fabric of Wolf's clothing and he immediately sent his aura rushing in. Wolf reacted swiftly, slashing at Stephane's arm to relieve his grip, but the deed had been done. When he stepped away and expected to still be invisible, Wolf discovered that he was except for one thing. A luminous blue aura now surrounded his invisible body, revealing his location to everyone one the battlefield. Not knowing what to do, he simply stared at himself and deactivated his semblance, knowing it was now useless. Before Stephane could rush in for the final attack however, something happened behind him.

Music: https/youtu.be/XhvKjW1xoxQ

[Naruto OST- Breakdown]

Jim had carefully lifted Yang off of him and was rising to his feet, the purple glow of his Kalos Crystal clone emanating from his chest and sparking out like lightning. His eyes had sealed shut and a third eye in between the others, on his forehead, had appeared and was glowing bone white. On top of all that, his muscles were larger and stronger looking than ever before as his aura pulsed through them, even his metal arm looking more brilliant. "Cyclops State..." Jim muttered in a low, guttural voice, signifying the new stage of his semblance.

For a moment of awe everyone still on their feet stared at him, taking in his mighty power. In an instant of leg muscle powered speed however, he rushed forward and punched Wolf with the hardest hit any of them had ever seen. The blow sent Wolf flying across the platform towards the edge as he felt his ribs shatter instantaneously from the impact, bouncing multiple times on the steel ground before coming to a stop. Luckily for him he stopped before he reached the edge, lying on the ground feeling crazy levels of pain as he looked to his left and saw a bone sticking out of his elbow, his arm past that point twisted and mangled.

He had no time to brood over that however, as Jim was in the next second on him again. The aura pumping through the muscles in his legs was allowing him to move incredibly fast, and the aura flowing into his fists and arms made his punches uncontrollably strong. Next Jim stood behind his opponent as he laid on the floor, unable to rise, and stomped his bot clad foot down on his leg. Wolf screamed in agony as his legs bones were cracked and smashed into many pieces, Jim moving over and doing the same to the other leg afterwards. He then grabbed Wolf by the scruff of his shirt and threw him through the air, catching up to him and smashing him in the face to send him flying even further.

When he landed for the second time, Wolf was in a terrible state. Both his legs were shattered, one arm was broken and now his jaw and nose were nothing but rubble like remains. As he saw Jim running for him again, he lifted up his remaining arm and tried to get a hit with his claws. Jim however, simply fisted the claws, the metal breaking on impact and doing nothing to his hardened skin. He then followed through and punched Wolf's fist, the shockwave of energy travelling up his arm and destroying all the bones inside. Wolf screamed in pain once more, never having felt such agony in his life.

Jim next decided it was time to finish the job and flipped his enemy over into his back, stepping over Jim and readying his fist. In the final moment of the fight, he punched straight down onto Wolf's chest with all the force he could muster with the help of the Kalos Crystal clone whilst yelling, "Annihilate!" As his fist hit its target, there was a blinding white light as Wolf felt every single bone in his body breaking, every organ bursting, every vessel rupturing. He was dead in seconds.

Finally running out of energy, Jim stepped away from the defeated general, feeling more exhausted then ever, and collapsed onto the ground.

Ending Music: https/youtu.be/KruXhNuindw [Naruto Shippuden OP 3 V2]

(Shows Damien on the left and Connor on the right)

Habata itara

(Shows Damien's flintlock pistol and Connor's Katana)

modoranai to itte!

(Shows Connor's eye, then Damien's eye, then Ruby's eye with a tear)

Mezashita no wa

(Shows Connor on his knees in front of a shadowy figure)

aoi aoi no sora!

OUTLAWS AND OUTLAWS

(Shows Connor falling through the sky towards the naval platform) Kanashimi wa mada obeorarezu! Setsunasa wa ima tsukami

(Shows Connor floating next to Damien)

hajimete! Anata e to daku kono kanjou mo!

(Shows Ruby holding her hands to her chest)

Ima kotoba ni kawatte iku!

(Shows Jim with Stephane and Yang)

Michi naru sekai

(Shows Kane with Irileth)

no yume kara

(Shows Mars with Damien) mezamete!

(Goes back to Connor falling through the sky)

Kono hane wo hiroge

(He straightens himself mid-air and his fists glow with the golden light of his semblance)

tobitatsu!

(Shows the four generals in a circle)

Habata itara modoranai to itte! (Shows Mars, Jim, Connor and Kane)

Mezashita no wa

(Shows Mars and Damien fighting Jorge)

aoi aoi no sora!

(Kane and Irileth fire their semblances at Isabella) Tsukinuketara

(Shows Jim, Stephane and Yang fighting Wolf)

mitsukara to shitte! Furikiri

(Connor throws a punch at Michael)

hodo

(Shows Connor fist fighting Michael)

aoi aoi ano sora!

(Shows the four generals together) Aoi aoi

(Shows Daryl with a shadowy figure)

ano sora!

(Shows Connor standing up)

Aoi aoi ano sora!

(Shows the Beacon team standing on the naval platform in front of Daryl, the shadowy figure, and the four generals)

END


	24. Chapter 24- Dragon State

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 24

Dragon State

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/jOz5mHKWaQ8 [GATE OP 1]

(Music starts)

(Note: Characters listed next show up at the same time as the letters in the video)

(Shows Yang)

(Shows Jim)

(Shows Irileth)

(Shows Kane)

(Shows Mars)

(Shows Damien)

(Shows Ruby)

(Shows Connor)

(Quickly shows the letters of the title)

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS (Shows Connor walking down the corridor of Beacon)

Toku ni nani mo nozomu koto (Connor looks behind him)

nante nai!

(Ruby is behind him)

Minihodo wa shite

(She smiles at him) iru sa!

(Yang comes out of her room) Sonna boku de sae mo

(She pretends to be grumpy but let's out a small smile)

oku no hou ni!

(Shows Irileth in the arena facing away)

Yuzuritakunai

(She spins around and faces forward)

ikou geedo wa

(Attacks with her dual energy whips)

arurashii!

(Shows Stephane walking away from the arena)

Mamorutte angai to

(He scowls angrily)

muzukashii ne!

(Shows Mars raising his fist into the air)

Aki-

(Shows Kane charging into battle) -ra-

(Shows Jim punching with his metal arm)

-meru

(Shows combat air ships leaving Beacon) wake ja nai kedo!

(The air ships arrive at the naval platform)

Aoi sora no hate

(Everyone jumps down from the air ships and lands on the naval platform)

tsunagatta machi no yukue

(They walk towards the soldiers) Kitto teki to wakari

(The soldiers fire at them)

aenai

(The team fires their semblances) dakedo

(Their semblances take out the soldiers)

iin ja nai!

(Shows Mars using Mystic State) Hirata tobira wa

(Shows Kane surrounded by dark clouds)

subete o kaete

(Shows Jim's muscles growing stronger)

yuku!

(Shows Daryl standing on the roof watching the battle)

Sora no akatsuki no you ni!

(Shows Michael in flying around in his dragon exo-suit)

Oh wow wow! (Shows Michelle teleport behind Irileth and Kane and swing her twin-blade at them) Oh wow wow!

(Shows Wolf slicing at Jim, Yang and Stephane with his claws)

Oh wow wow!

(Shows Jorge firing a chain gun at Mars and Damien)

Oh wow wow!

(Shows Mars, Connor, Jim and Kane trying to push a tank back) Oh wow wow!

(Shows Michael, Michelle, Wolf and Jorge)

(Shows Mars and Damien)

(Shows Yang, Jim and Stephane) (Shows Kane and Irileth)

(Shows Connor and Ruby)

(Shows them all cheering in a line)

Jim hit the metal floor with a thunk, landing near where Yang was lying, Kane and Irileth lying by each other in the same way. Mars and Damien were still being suppressed by Jorge's gunfire and had no way of doing anything without dropping their shield and being torn to shreds by bullets. As for Connor, he was stood leaning against a steel wall, breathing hard after just being hit in the belly but staring in awe at the final moments of Jim's battle. "Amazing..." He mumbled to himself as blood trickled out of his mouth and down his chin, his entire body badly bruised.

"If you have time to compliment your friend's battle, you should be using that time to think of a way to beat me." Michael commented wryly from his metal dragon exoskeleton. "That's the way a logical man like me would think."

Pushing himself away from the wall and ignoring the aches all over himself, Connor wittily replied, "If that's the case, shouldn't you be thinking of a way to win right now too?"

"Oh, believe me I am." Michael assured him, raising a metal claw in front of himself to illustrate his point. "I've already thought of a thousand different strategies I can use to kill you, but I don't need them since it seems just punching you over and over is working just fine."

"Heh, I've been punched plenty of times and I'm still here, it'll take more than that." Connor remarked, recalling his fight with Yang and the many punches thrown in that battle. He then got himself into a battle ready position, his legs bent and his fists in front of him, and questioned, "So what's with the semblances? Damien told us you lot aren't supposed to have any."

"Your ally Kane figured it out." Michael began to explain, lowering his clawed arm as he did so, allowing a temporary moment of peace. "The aura tanks on our backs create artificial auras, they give us our power. When destroyed, like Kane did to Irileth's, our semblances cease to exist."

"I haven't seen you use a semblance yet. What's wrong, four eyes, did you get left out?" Connor taunted, hoping to rile up his enemy and take advantage of his mistakes.

"I am the inventor of the aura tanks, Master Daryl gave me the resources I required." Michael answered, a annoyed frown making it's way onto his face at the taunting. "Instead of giving myself a semblance like the others, I decided it would be a more worthy investment to create this masterpiece of a dragon suit!"

"You talk about Daryl like he's your master, even call him it." Connor said, his face turning more determined as he prepared to jump back into the fight. "Why do you follow a man like him, why do you stay loyal? Don't you see that what he's doing is wrong? He's killing so many underserving people!"

Smiling at what he saw as his opponents ignorance, Michael calmly replied, "I follow him because he saved me, because he trusted and cared for me even when I was an outcast through the eyes of everyone else, he took in all of us! He is like a father to us and know I am watching you tremble before the creation he has helped me to complete, the ultimate dragon armour, the unbreakable steel!"

As soon as Micheal finished his speech, Connor put his foot forward, then another and another until he was running and shouting with a confident grin on his face, "Who's trembling?!" His arms then beginning to radiate with the golden light of his semblance, he threw his fist towards Micheal, who blocked it with his own metal clawed fist. He expected nothing to come of it, but to his surprise, the steel over his arm cracked a couple of seconds after the punch. His eyes widened in disbelief as Connor smirked confidently, already having planned his next move.

He moved swiftly, punching forward with his other fist, the hit being blocked by Michael's other metal arm, which also cracked as the golden light impacted it. Connor then brought up his leg, kneeing Michael in the face and knocking him back, finally taking the advantage. He then wasted no time, getting in a punch straight to Michael's unprotected stomach, knocking him to the ground with power of his semblance growing more and more, the golden light circling his body and enveloping his forearms. While his opponent was down, Connor then leapt up and aimed his next punch downwards. Micheal grabbed the fist with his steel claws just before it hit his stomach again, pushing with all his might to keep it away from him as the light around Connor continued to intensify. Connor however then attacked with his free hand, thinking he'd land the hit.

Michael unfortunately had another trick up his sleeve, the tail of his metal dragon suit came from behind him and smacked Connor in the chest, knocking him far away. Connor luckily wasn't winded this time and managed to stay standing, but felt the bruise on his chest where he'd hit. "You're the warrior of light..." Michael stated in between breaths, Connor looking at him confusedly. "In the tomes of Remnant, a warrior of light is depicted with power handed down from the dragon Titan himself. That's what you are, you have the same power, the same semblance."

"Warrior of light...I like the sound of that." Connor responded, grinning to himself as he wiped blood from his mouth. "It makes me sound like a badass."

"Don't get cocky, you may have cracked the steel frame of my armour, but you can't deny that I hit hard." Michael argued back, making sure his steel dragon armour wasn't about to fall apart because of the cracks. "It's hurts, doesn't it?"

Putting his hand on his chest where he had been it many times, Connor felt the fabric of his undervest and went back to being serious. The vest had a scraggy hole were his wound was and the rest looked like it would rip apart any minute. "Yeah, it hurts. It hurts like hell." Connor admitted, grabbing his vest in his fist. "It hurts, but I've had so much worse before. I've been shot at, stabbed, had my bones broken and almost died before, so some bruises aren't gonna weigh me down!"

Stopping his speech before he had intended to finish, Connor then heard a voice in his head, a familiar voice. It was Ruby's.

"Connor, I have an idea, hopefully a good one." She said, speaking in the same way Kane had all that time ago when he had been in Connor's head. "Back when Kane was in your head, you could use his semblance, right?"

"Rubes...you're a freaking genius, I wish could kiss you right now." Connor playfully responded, understanding what she meant, but being careful not to let Michael hear his muttering.

"You can, after all this is over, finish it quick." She then told him, Connor feeling his heart race faster as warmth filled him and relieved him of the pain he was feeling. Even whilst not even in her own body, whilst sharing, Ruby could still make him feel happy.

As the golden light began circling him again, it's strength reborn after the hit he had taken, Connor let a smile out of the corner of his mouth. "I'll finish it right now, Rubes!" He declared, putting his foot forward and going into another run.

Music: http/youtu.be/Zjb109KA6Po [Fairy Tail OST- Cobra Theme]

Anticipating Connor to rush forward, Michael braced himself, preparing to defend. When Connor came close enough, he lashed out with his steel claw, but somehow missed. Connor had vanished from right in front of him. Hearing movement from behind him, Michael then turned around and saw Connor there, allowing him to figure out what was going on. Just like when Kane had been the one in his mind, he was still able to use the semblance of the person sharing his body. Now he was using Ruby's speed, moving way too fast for anyone to track, expect this time he had his own semblance on top of it.

Moving too quickly his heavily armoured opponent to react, Connor threw a hard punch, smacking Michael right in the jaw. Before he could recover from the blow, he felt another hit in the stomach, then another in the back. Soon he was being hit from all over, Connor moving unbelievably speedily and getting in punches all over. His steel exoskeleton cracked all over, it's structure weakening.

While Micheal was still reeling back from a particularly powerful attack, Connor dashed in front of him and began charging up his aura in his arms. He'd done it before in the battle against Mars and remembered how. After only a few seconds, blades of light had formed on Connor's elbows, going all the way down his arm to just before his wrist. He charged forward once more, crossing his arms over himself, then slashed past Michael and yelled, "Golden Dragon Wings!"

[Stop Music]

Michael yelled out in pain at the blow, the golden light wasn't able to physically cut through people, but the pain that it delivered was real enough. Michael was experiencing what he would if Connor had run him through with his arm blades. Connor smiles confidently at that, coming to a stop behind his opponent as he was sure he'd won.

He didn't anticipate what happened next however. Michael's metal dragon tail slammed down on him, knocking him to the ground, his face grinding against the rusty metal. Next thing he knew, Michael had picked him up in his large claws and then threw him far across the battlefield and into a steel wall. Connor hit the wall with such force that the platform instead shook, his head bashing against the hard surface a split second before he blacked out.

Music: http/youtu.be/tUtNsZXsZZo [Fairy Tail OST- Main Theme Slow]

When Connor's consciousness slowly returned to him, he quickly realised he was in the white realm of his mind, or of Kalos'. Whichever one it was, it was the same flat blank landscape he had seen many times before. Through his blurred and shaky vision, he could see the large stone wall in the distance with someone sitting on top, who he assumed to be Kalos. He felt a harsh pain at the back of his head, where he'd impacted the wall, but like all the other times he had entered this realm he was not physically injured. Once again, his eyepatch and metal hand were gone, replaced with normal body parts, and the wounds he had more recently sustained were gone. He noticed that time however, he was wearing his white cloak instead of his old red checkered shirt, barely able to see the colour of it through the blurs. He found he couldn't move his body all that much, but could tell he was sitting as if leaning against a wall, with his legs out in front of him, except there was no wall.

The first thing he felt aside from his terrible headache was someone gripping the collar of his long coat with one hand, prompting him to try to focus his vision. After making the blurs partially but not completely go away, he saw that the person was Ruby, who was sat on her knees in between his open legs. He could see that she was upset, she was looking down at the ground whilst weakly holding onto his coat, but he didn't know what to do. He could barely see straight, still feeling the effects of the hit to his head.

"You got hurt...you always get hurt..." Ruby mumbled, tears starting to run down her face. Since Connor was still out of it, he only realised she was in tears when he heard her sobbing.

Once he heard that unmistakable sound, he weakly reached an arm up and patted her on the head, feeling her soft hair brush through his fingers. "Damn it..." He cursed, his voice sounding tired and weak. "I promised not to make you cry anymore...I messed up..." It was then that he started to feel tears running down his own face, joining in the feeling with Ruby.

Knowing he was crying too without looking up, Ruby now held onto the collar of his coat with both hands and said, "Don't be so hard on yourself...you tried...you always try so hard for me..."

"I can't beat him though...I've tried...he keeps hitting me back even harder than before." Connor sobbed, moving his hand into Ruby's back and holding her closer to him.

"You have to beat him, you're fighting for two now." Ruby told him, wiping the tears from her eyes and looking up at his face. The stared into each other's eyes, communicating unsaid feelings. Even just like that, they knew what they were both thinking.

"So mushy." Kalos dryly commented from his perch atop the stone wall. "I'll never understand this thing that you humans call love, it bewilders me. You put all your strength into protecting each other, under the premise of love. I can't understand it."

"Shut up." Connor half heartedly and somewhat jokingly responded, earning an amused chuckle from Kalos. He then wrapped both his arms around Ruby, holding her close to him while he touched heard with her and looked into her eyes. "You're right...I'm fighting for two...so I'll fight with everything I've got."

"Don't die, ok?" Ruby pleaded, putting her hands on his cheeks and giving him the sweetest smile he had ever seen from her. Despite the gravity of the situation, this moment was one of the best in his life. He felt close to her, and knew she felt the same way.

"You betcha." He replied, kissing her softly on the lips one more time, before he inevitably went back to his body. He then raised a hand in the air as if to wave, then called out to Kalos, "Yo, Kalos, think you could find it in our heart to lend a tired fighter some power?"

Letting out another amused chuckle at the request, showing a side of himself Connor had never before seen, and looked as though he would be smiling if he had a mouth when he answered, "Don't waste it."

The blank landscape was then filled with an almighty light, Connor disappearing into as Ruby waved her goodbye, eagerly awaiting his victory over his opponent. In an instant, he was back in his body, standing up mightily. Michael stare at him in awe as his metal hand glowed with the purple light and lightning of the true Kalos Crystal and the golden light of his semblance intensified all around him like never before. The light went all the way up his arms to his shoulders, emanating from his entire body. It shaped around his back, forming two dragon like wings of golden light.

[Stop Music]

"This is...the true power of a dragon..." Michael muttered to himself as he took in he sight before him, Connor's power only growing. "This is the power from the ancient tomes...Dragon State..."

Connor took a step forward, then pushed his leg, letting the light propel him. His golden dragon wings carried him to Michael in a flash, hovering him just a little above the ground as he gritted his teeth angrily, ready to finish his opponent off. His feet landed on the ground as he positioned himself under Michael, going for an unexpected angle. When he felt his power hit it's max, he punched upwards, jumping up and allowing his wings to take flight as he did so.

With Michael riding on his fist, the punch deep in his belly, Connor flew higher and higher into the sky. He'd never felt power such as this before, even when using Kane's semblance, it was incredible. The golden light surrounding him and trailing as he continued to fly up at an incredible speed, taking Michael with him, he felt a new power emitting from him. When he reached a height he thought was high enough, he removed his fist from Michael, who at this point was already bruised, battered, and completely out of it, and flipped over in the air to be over him. He then drove his elbow down into his enemies back, shattering the metal wings, tail, and spine in one blow, but continued to drive it downwards. He descended with his elbow digging into Michael's back, falling down at an even faster speed than he had risen. When he hit the metal platform, he did so with a mighty smash. He slammed Michael down before him, instantly killing him and even having enough force to bend the metal ground around him and shake the entire naval base.

Sure that his opponent was down for the count, Connor rose to his feet, removing his elbow from Michael's back. The golden light around him hadn't yet dissipated, meaning he was still in Dragon State, even the wings still present. Feeling aches in his muscles, he flexed his arms and legs, trying to soften the bruising as he said down to his opponent, "Man, I really beat the heck out of you, huh?" Getting no answer, he looked down at Michael and called to him, "Hey, you dead?" After still receiving no answer, he muttered, "Guess so." He wasn't sure how he felt about that. On one hand he didn't want to kill people, but on the other he knew that these generals would kill them if they didn't fight back with all they had.

His train of thought was interrupted however, as he heard Mars call out his name. Looking over there, he saw that Mars and Damien were still trying to block the barrage of bullets being sent towards them by Jorge's mini gun, their shield looking as if it was going to break down any minute.

Jorge had no intention of letting up his gunfire, the aura from the tanks on his back keeping his ammo permanently full. He smirked to himself as he saw the shield growing weaker, sure of his victory. He then felt a presence to his right however, and turned his head in time to see Connor flying low to the ground in Dragon State towards him. Once he was within range, Connor punched a light enveloped fist downwards on the mini-gun, driving into the ground. The bullets continued to fire out of the multiple barrels, flying in different directions as they bounced off of the metal flooring of the platform. Connor signalled out to Damien and Mars, "Now!"

On that cue, the two brought down their shield to finally concentrate on attacking. Damien held his hands out in front of him, using his semblance to manipulate the air currents. Just as Connor jumped back from Jorge and prepared to roll away from the gunfire as Jorge picked his weapon back up, the air currents pushed down, knocking Jorge down on his stomach and pinning him there.

After that, Mars took of his long green coat and dropped it beside himself, looking forward to letting out his pent up battle lust after so long on the defence. "Now, Connor...let me show you how the masters do it." He declared, unbuttoning his green shirt and leaving it open, his muscly body on display. Green energy then circled around him, growing in strength until his entire body was cloaked in it, the green aura surrounding him like lightning and his eyes completely green as his shirt flapped about in the force the energy was creating. "I don't need a Kalos Crystal to get this powerful, unlike the rest of you! Mystic State!" Mars shouted out, holding his fists together and up above his head as storm clouds filled with green lighting appeared in the sky above the naval platform. "Secret Art!" He then yelled once more, bringing his joined fists down like a hammer. "Energy Drill!"

Right on his cue, the storm clouds crackled with green lightning, the ground shaking tremendously, Connor skidding back to where Mars and Damien were standing and staring in amazement. Suddenly, a giant flash of green energy come down from the storm, crashing right into the still pinned down Jorge like a massive lightning strike. It stayed for longer than lightning though, spinning like a drill and pulsing and sparking with incredible force, creating wind in its wake. When it finally faded, Jorge was unmoving, presumedly dead, Connor didn't know any human that could survive a blast of power such as that.

"That's Jenga..." Mars joked, buttoning up his shirt and picking up his coat before walking away from the scene, the green energy that had been around him now gone. Connor was left amazed by the spectacle he had witnessed, not only had Mars entered Mystic State without a Kalos Crystal, he'd used the most powerful attack Connor had ever seen and didn't even look worn out. If he, Jim and Kane worked for years they still might not come close to his might, he was leagues stronger than them combined. He might have actually taken it easy on them in the tournament fight.

Connor then suddenly remembered the state their allies were in. Jim and Kane were both unconscious on the ground and Yang and Irileth were still bleeding out. Realising this, he turned on his heel and starting running, hoping they were still alive. He stopped in his tracks however when three airships descended from above, their engines blowing a gust of wind over the platform as medics stepped out of it.

Backup had arrived.

Ending Music: https/youtu.be/KruXhNuindw [Naruto Shippuden OP 3 V2]

(Shows Damien on the left and Connor on the right)

Habata itara

(Shows Damien's flintlock pistol and Connor's Katana)

modoranai to itte!

(Shows Connor's eye, then Damien's eye, then Ruby's eye with a tear)

Mezashita no wa

(Shows Connor on his knees in front of a shadowy figure)

aoi aoi no sora!

OUTLAWS AND OUTLAWS

(Shows Connor falling through the sky towards the naval platform) Kanashimi wa mada obeorarezu! Setsunasa wa ima tsukami

(Shows Connor floating next to Damien)

hajimete! Anata e to daku kono kanjou mo!

(Shows Ruby holding her hands to her chest)

Ima kotoba ni kawatte iku!

(Shows Jim with Stephane and Yang)

Michi naru sekai

(Shows Kane with Irileth)

no yume kara

(Shows Mars with Damien) mezamete!

(Goes back to Connor falling through the sky)

Kono hane wo hiroge

(He straightens himself mid-air and his fists glow with the golden light of his semblance)

tobitatsu!

(Shows the four generals in a circle)

Habata itara modoranai to itte! (Shows Mars, Jim, Connor and Kane)

Mezashita no wa

(Shows Mars and Damien fighting Jorge)

aoi aoi no sora!

(Kane and Irileth fire their semblances at Isabella) Tsukinuketara

(Shows Jim, Stephane and Yang fighting Wolf)

mitsukara to shitte! Furikiri

(Connor throws a punch at Michael)

hodo

(Shows Connor fist fighting Michael)

aoi aoi ano sora!

(Shows the four generals together) Aoi aoi

(Shows Daryl with a shadowy figure)

ano sora!

(Shows Connor standing up)

Aoi aoi ano sora!

(Shows the Beacon team standing on the naval platform in front of Daryl, the shadowy figure, and the four generals)

END


	25. Chapter 25- Into The Base

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 25

Into The Base

 **All righty, now we're getting into the final cour of volume 3, the last couple of big moments will be within the next 10-12 chapters. There's a new opening an ending for this one I really like, one of them being an original, meaning the visuals are my own design instead of being based off of an already existing opening. Anyway, enjoy!**

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/KSLG_oeD1yw [Attention Question- Tohka]

! Means a beat in the music

Music Starts

(Shows Daryl standing in Dust Valley, holding a gun. He raises his arm and points the gun whilst flashbacks of his team and his past appear behind him)

Music stops for about a split second then starts again

(Shows Connor standing in Dust Valley, looking at the ground with hair covering his eyes. He looks up as flashbacks of Team Kalos and the rest of his friends appear behind him)

(Connor runs at Daryl and aims a punch)

(Daryl fires his gun)

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS!

Are kore kakaekonde omoeba iranai mono made

(Shows Connor sitting with his head between his legs)

Umaku naru iiwake to myou

(Shows Ruby sitting inside of Connor's head with her legs drawn up to her chest)

na PURIADO!

(Shows Kalos sitting on top of the stone wall)

Jibun wo tana ni agete (Shows Jim, Yang, Kane, Irileth, Mars, and Stephane standing in Dust Valley, their hair and clothesflapping in the wind)

hito no koto aadakouda!

(Shows Murlough standing on the naval platform amongst the dead bodies of the generals)

Iu tsumori mo nai kedo!

(Zooms in on Murlough's face as he punches his hand and grins evilly)

Mukishitsuni

(Shows Daryl towards someone) Mawaru Tic and Tac!

(Shows Damien walking towards Daryl)

Ganbaru tte

(Connor and Kane approach Daryl from either side)

nandarou!

(Connor and Kane charge at Daryl) Attention! Question! Nantonaku nagasateru socchi no mizu wa (Shows Connor and Kane fighting Daryl with their semblances)

amai desuka!

(They hit Daryl's air current barrier with their golden light and black clouds)

YES/NO!

(Shows Isabella in tattered clothes with purple energy around her) YES/NO!

(Shows Mars with green energy around him)

Atari mimawashita totan ni!

(They shoot their energy blasts at each other)

Koko dake

(Connor goes into Dragon State and launches himself off a rock face)

toki ga tomaru

(He flies out and hits Daryl) COLOUR!

(Shows a massive light in Dust Valley)

(Shows Connor on the naval platform)

(Shows Murlough on the naval platform)

(Shows Murlough and Connor looking at each other from afar, Murlough with black clouds trailing from him, Connor with golden light trailing from one hand and black clouds trailing from the other) (They charge at each other)

END

After the airships landed, the medics rushed onto the battlefield to heal the wounded. Ozpin had hired the best in the continent for this job, specially trained doctors with healing semblances. Whilst they held their hands over the wounded, a warm green light healing the wounds, they injected everyone with strange syringes. According to them, the syringes were filled with a special type of medicine designed to quicken aura restoration and improve the bodies natural ability to repair damage. They claimed that combining it with their healing semblances would fix wounds amazingly quickly and even restore lost blood, but the resources required to make the drug were few and far, meaning the medicine was extremely expensive to make and only a few batches existed. Ozpin must have paid an absurd amount to secure such an asset.

The medics around Connor were set on healing his bruises with their semblance whilst checking him for broken bones or any other similar injuries, however he did not appreciate their help. He repeatedly told them he was fine and that they should go and check up on the other, more seriously injured, fighters first, but they insisted other medics were already on it. So he sat there and endured the check up, letting them search his body for any signs of wounds, major or minor, looking over at the others who still lay on the ground surrounded by doctors.

Kane had awoken surprisingly quickly after the medics had fixed up the wounds on his knee and hip, and had immediately bounced up, demanding to know where Irileth was. His attitude surprised Connor, who had never seen him so wound up before, but he supposed it was a change that was for the best. The medics then hurried to lead Kane over to where Irileth was laying, her wounds having just been healed and bandaged in case they reopened. He sat down next to her as the doctors completed their work, checking on some final points, until she started to stir.

Kane was the first thing she saw upon opening her eyes, looking up at him as she lay on her front, the medical team double checking her back wound, and she lightly smiled. "You look like you've been through some torture." She joked, seeing the blood stains all over his coat and leg.

"You should see yourself, you're gonna have a big arse scar." Kane responded, seemingly trying to lightly joke back, but with the same bland expression as always.

"You got her then?" Irileth questioned, referring to Isabella, spying her body laying flat on the ground a ways across the battlefield. "Nice job, I knew you could do it."

Kane responded to the praise with a grunting noise, modestly shrugging it off. "I couldn't take her out...not until after you..." Kane admitted, trailing off before finishing.

"Hey, I'm here now, I'm all right." Irileth butted in, comforting him. She then held a hand out in front of her self she still laid their with the doctors being almost done, hoping maybe he'd hold it. "So...what do we do about us? I told you I love you and I wasn't lying."

Kane was silent for a few moments after that, seeming to be conflicted whilst thinking it over. He looked to Irileth and away from her many times before speaking. "I'm not good with emotions, you know that. Not ones other than anger and hate, anyway." He eventually said, not looking at Irileth whilst talking to her. "I don't love you, I'm not even sure if I like you, not sure if I like anyone. To be honest I really don't know why I got so mad when you got hurt, I'm still figuring myself out, so don't get your hopes up about having a happy relationship with me."

Irileth was saddened by that, but knew she could somehow get to Kane, he'd softened up even in the time since she'd met him again. Holding her hand out further, making it impossible for him to ignore, she pleaded with him, "We can try, can't we?"

Looking at her hand and, despite having his usual grumpy look on his face, seeming uplifted, Kane then reached out his own hand. He held hers softly and gently, allowing her to wrap her fingers around his whilst he once again looked away from her, too conflicted to look her in the eye. "Yeah, we can try." He quietly told her, not wanting anyone else to hear him.

Meanwhile Jim and Yang were going through a similar ordeal. The doctors had crowded around them, seeing their injuries as the worst and quickly setting to work on healing them. It wasn't long until the medics decided they would be alright and spilt off to help others, a small group staying with Jim and Yang as they awoke.

Jim found his eyes reluctant to open, a ringing in his ears and a banging in his head, but forced them to. He immediately saw a pair of doctors hunched over him, dressing his chest wound after having dealt with the bleeding and closing the cut. Turning his head to his left as he lay there, he saw the same thing was happening with Yang as she lay with her eyes closed but breathing, although he could see she was starting to awaken. "Hey there, beautiful, rise and shine." He cooed to her.

"Don't say that like it's a normal morning, you idiot, you're making it sound like we sleep next to each other." Yang scolded, using her arm to shield her eyes from the light as she first opened them.

"Nothing wrong with that in my book." Jim remarked, shooting her a smile and proving he was still his old flirty self. Yang rolled her eyes at him, then they both have a doctors a surprise as they simultaneously rose into a sitting position, seeming unconcerned by their bandaged wounds as the doctors back away nervously.

At first, they both just looked at each other, smiling. Yang then bursted out saying, "Well, I'm not gonna do it first!" The doctors were extremely confused by this, but Jim knew exactly what she meant.

"Well then, I guess I'll have to lead." Jim flirtatiously replied, before leaning over and kissing Yang on the lips. The first kiss was a soft one, but as he pulled away from it Yang grabbed his face and forced him into another kiss, another and another until they were sloppily snogging in the middle of the battlefield as the medics watched awkwardly.

Connor saw this from where he was standing and pulled a disgusted face, making a sound of disapproval as he watched his best friend swapping saliva with his fiancées sister. "Good for them." He heard Ruby say from inside her head, sounding a lot better than she did when he had spoken with her during his battle with Michael, and simply responded with an uncaring, "Yeah, whatever."

Mars, unlike the others, had shrugged the medics off of him, claiming he didn't need treatment for his wounds. Just as expected, he was acting tough. Damien had allowed himself to be checked over, but was the least wounded of any of the team. As for Stephane, he had let the doctors clean the blood from his three claw marks across his face and heal them slightly, but had insisted on leaving them as raw red scars, thinking it cool. All three of them joined Connor in the centre of the platform, as the others headed there as well to discuss the next step in their plan.

"So, what do we do now?" Connor asked Damien, saying what was on everyone's minds. "You never told us what we'd do after we beat the generals."

"The next step is to destroy the base itself, so that they really can't recover from this attack." Damien answered, drawing everyone's attention to the enormous and thick steel doors at the front of the main building with a pointing arm. "We need to break through that, I doubt they'll open it up for us. Once that's done we spilt into teams with different roles." He then turned back to the group, preparing to designate jobs to everyone there. He then ordered, "Connor, you will go down the right route of the base to find the aura bank, with that active we won't be able to use our semblances within the interior of the base, so destroy it quickly."

"You can bet on it, I'll smash the damn thing to pieces!" Connor valiantly assured Damien, who then continued giving out roles.

"Me, Kane and Jim will also be going through the facility by different routes, taking out any remaining guards we see on our way to the main reactor." Damien continued as everyone listened closely. "Whoever reaches the reactor first, there's a button in there that activates the self destruct by overloading the nuclear rods, behind a small hatch that opens and closes rapidly, so try not to get your arm stuck in there or you'll get blown up with everyone else. When the others in there hear the alarm go off, head straight for the exit, every man for himself. Everyone I haven't so far mentioned will wait outside and take out any reinforcements. Everyone got all that?"

"Sounds so simply when you put it like that!" Connor joked, feeling fired up from his battle. "Let's get that door open!"

The group then all made their way to the giant steel door and made stood in front of it. After observing the obstacle for a few moments, Kane and Connor stepped forward, volunteering to be the ones to open it. Connor shot Kane a confident grin, wordlessly expressing what he had in mind, to which Kane nodded in agreement. The two of them then positioned their hands behind and in-between themselves, the palms facing each other. They then started to build up their auras in the palms of their hands, charging up their ultimate attack. The dark clouds from Kane mixed with Connor's golden light, creating a shining storm cloud in their hands. They then thrust their hands in front of them, aimed at the door, and yelled, "Darklight Cannon!"

The dark cloud with the golden light shining through the cracks then shot out of their hands like a cannon blast, erupting towards the door in a majestic display of power, their coats flapping in the gust it created. The door withstood the hit at first, but as the blast kept coming it weakened, and inevitably buckled.

Now the truly difficult part of the battle had begun.

Ending Music: http/youtu.be/YRLW-llroVw [Fuyugyaku Replace]

! Means a beat in the music

Wake in loneliness! Loneliness!

(Shows Connor standing on the naval platform)

Falling inside your story!

(Shows Murlough standing opposite him)

Walking after you! After you! (Zooms in Connor's face)

I will share my time!

(Shows naval platform)

(Shows Connor in Dragon State) OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS Maykoinda sekai de!

(Shows young Connor in front of his parents bodies)

Boku no kage to kasanatte

(Shows Murlough in Connor's hometown)

Ima! I can't go back!

(Shows Connor losing control of the dark clouds in his hometown) Ketteiteki no boku shoumei wa! (Shows Connor in his original outfit) Jidai wo ima koete monogataru! (Shows Ruby reach out in front of her)

I will be the brand new age!

(Shows Team Kalos and Allies) Yeah! From this day!

(Shows young Connor and Murlough walking)

I will save myself!

(Shows Connor with Kane's shadow behind him)

And the time is now!

(Connor opens his eyes, one is black, one is gold)

Kill my weakness!

(Shows Connor in his original outfit running towards volume 2 Murlough)

Weakness!

(They change to their volume 3 versions)

Kanarazu koete naite satte!

(Shows a flashback of the Murlough VS Connor fight from volume 2)

And I stay alive!

(Their semblances hit each other) Alive!

(Shows the naval base in a fiery explosion)

Saigo wo shinjitaku wa nakute! (Shows Connor's village being destroyed by black clouds)

Kill my weakness! Weakness! (Shows Murlough summoning dark clouds all around him)

Itsuka kidsuita to shita mo!

(Shows Connor going into Dragon State)

I will prove myself that I have lived today!

(Shows Connor and Murlough fighting in their most powerful states)

Starting now!

(They both hit each other's fists and let off their semblances)

END


	26. Chapter 26- The Leader of it All

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 26

The Leader of it All

 **Sorry for the delay. I had a hell of a time resetting my password coupled with the absolute worst writers block I've ever had. All that's sorted now though, so enjoy!**

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/KSLG_oeD1yw [Attention Question- Tohka]

! Means a beat in the music

Music Starts

(Shows Daryl standing in Dust Valley, holding a gun. He raises his arm and points the gun whilst flashbacks of his team and his past appear behind him)

Music stops for about a split second then starts again

(Shows Connor standing in Dust Valley, looking at the ground with hair covering his eyes. He looks up as flashbacks of Team Kalos and the rest of his friends appear behind him)

(Connor runs at Daryl and aims a punch)

(Daryl fires his gun)

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS!

Are kore kakaekonde omoeba iranai mono made

(Shows Connor sitting with his head between his legs)

Umaku naru iiwake to myou

(Shows Ruby sitting inside of Connor's head with her legs drawn up to her chest)

na PURIADO!

(Shows Kalos sitting on top of the stone wall)

Jibun wo tana ni agete (Shows Jim, Yang, Kane, Irileth, Mars, and Stephane standing in Dust Valley, their hair and clothesflapping in the wind)

hito no koto aadakouda!

(Shows Murlough standing on the naval platform amongst the dead bodies of the generals)

Iu tsumori mo nai kedo!

(Zooms in on Murlough's face as he punches his hand and grins evilly)

Mukishitsuni

(Shows Daryl towards someone) Mawaru Tic and Tac!

(Shows Damien walking towards Daryl)

Ganbaru tte

(Connor and Kane approach Daryl from either side)

nandarou!

(Connor and Kane charge at Daryl) Attention! Question! Nantonaku nagasateru socchi no mizu wa (Shows Connor and Kane fighting Daryl with their semblances)

amai desuka!

(They hit Daryl's air current barrier with their golden light and black clouds)

YES/NO!

(Shows Isabella in tattered clothes with purple energy around her) YES/NO!

(Shows Mars with green energy around him)

Atari mimawashita totan ni!

(They shoot their energy blasts at each other)

Koko dake

(Connor goes into Dragon State and launches himself off a rock face)

toki ga tomaru

(He flies out and hits Daryl) COLOUR!

(Shows a massive light in Dust Valley)

(Shows Connor on the naval platform)

(Shows Murlough on the naval platform)

(Shows Murlough and Connor looking at each other from afar, Murlough with black clouds trailing from him, Connor with golden light trailing from one hand and black clouds trailing from the other) (They charge at each other)

END

Music: https/youtu.be/AbSUd9Kqp3w [Red Vs Blue OST- Terrify!]

Immediately upon entering the facility, the team of Kane, Connor, Jim and Damien were met with corridors full of soldiers in white armour. Reacting with hesitation, they moved quickly. Kane went left, slashing his scythes through the crowded corridors on his way to find a route to the reactor. Jim went straight forward, deciding to find a different way, cutting through enemy soldiers with his boomerang weapons and punching the ones that got too close. He noticed that his strength was lessened because the aura bank restricting his semblance, but he was still muscly enough on his on to knock someone out with one blow. Connor dashed to the left, Damien following him. Strangely, the soldiers went the other two ways and left them alone, but they didn't think on it. Instead they rushed to shut down the aura bank.

After a few minutes of running, Kane came into a large room full of military vehicles and weaponry, the soldiers surrounding him. He gave treated them with no remorse, expertly attacking them with his dual scythes as they charged him. They were no match for his prowess, he carried on thinning out the crowd until only a few remained. From across the room he spied a soldier climbing into a combat robot, one of the large, rocket equipped mechatronics they had faced a few times before, like the one Roman had used against them all that time ago at the docks.

Sticking his hand out in front of him, Kane tried to call upon his semblance, then cursed under his breath as he remembered it wouldn't work until Connor and Damien shut off the aura bank. Without his semblance to help him, even Kane would have trouble against a the mechanical opponent. He took the initiative however, jumping at the cockpit of the robot and hitting the window with his scythes, bouncing off ineffectively. As soon he landed the robot kicked out at him, forcing him to jump backwards to avoid it. As soon as he stopped, rockets were fired towards him from the robots shoulders and he skirted around the edge of the room to not get blown to bits.

Meanwhile, Jim was in a battle of his own. He threw one of his boomerangs forward, the blade sticking it the head of a soldier. As he pulled it out he fired a shot from it, taking out another enemy on it's way back to him. Feeling a presence behind him, he looked over his shoulder and saw one of the guards had snuck up behind him, a little closer than the rest. He struck first, elbowing backwards into the soldiers face. He then turned his body fully, swinging his bladed boomerangs around him as he went, taking out as many enemies as he could with one motion. When he had first fought alongside Connor, he had shown his abilities as a long range fighter and shortcomings as a close range fighter. Since then he's trained to be an expert at both.

Back in the other room, Kane was pinned to the wall by the robots fist, his scythes having been lost to him and his lack of a semblance not helping. He struggled to escape but failed, the robot aiming it's railgun directly towards his face.

At about the same time as all that was happening, Connor and Damien had reached the aura bank. Looking it over quickly in their haste, they saw it was a large glass tank full of aura being collected from those in the building to stop them from using their semblance. Acting on instinct rather that brains, Connor ripped a metal panel from the frame of the tank, revealing a mess of differently coloured wires. "What do you think Rubes? Punch it?" He asked Ruby, waiting for her to answer from his mind.

"Punch it." The amusing answer came, and Connor obeyed, thrusting his fist into the mangled electronics. They sparked slightly, stinging his hand as he removed it, but the tank then began to shut down, it's glow fading and the collected aura escaping.

At the same time, the others felt their power flowing back into them. Jim punched the ground with his metal fist, creating a shockwave forceful enough to knock down all the soldiers around him. Kane summoned up his dark clouds, surrounding the robot with them and ripping it to pieces before picking up his scythes and moving on.

[Stop Music]

"Come on, next step's the main reactor." Damien ordered Connor, both of them leaving the failing aura bank behind and rushing back into the corridors. After running for a while though, they came across a bit of a hitch, the reason they had come so far to this facility appeared before them.

Music: http/youtu.be/yUChBbTZIK0 [Red Vs Blue OST- Twins]

As Connor ran into the next room, a small one with couches along the walls like it was a waiting room of some sort, gunshots were fired at him. Panicking at the sudden gunfire, he ran back and hid behind the wall for a few seconds, poking his head out to see who was shooting at him. His eyes widened and his anger grew as he instantly recognised who it was pointing the gun at him, standing in a military uniform covered by a long brown coat with his beard trailing down his face, it was Daryl. "You!" Connor exclaimed, recklessly jumping out from behind cover and running at the leader of the Enforcers.

Ducking under another bullet, he threw a punch at the man without another word, his head moving out of way in a slick dodge. He angrily delivered a kick to Daryl's side next, only to be blocked by his arm. Daryl quickly lined up the shot and fired another bullet from his pistol, Connor only just being able to avoid being shot. Rushing forward, he then head butted Daryl, pushing him back ever so slightly as he put his hand to the spot on his forehead where he had been hit. He then grabbed the hilt of the sword at his belt, an expensive looking military grade one, and slashed it out towards Connor with the hand of an expert swordsman.

Just before it hit Connor's head, the distinct sound of gunshots were heard behind them. Connor took advantage of Daryl's confusing to back away from the blade, seeing Damien walking into the room with his flintlock pistol and katanas combo weapons in his hands, pointing them straight at Daryl. "Brother..." Daryl growled at his younger sibling, his voice just as gravelly as Connor remembered it from the video. "You dare destroy my facility?"

"Connor, you go on alone, I can hold him off." Damien said, keeping his eyes on Daryl but ignoring what he was saying.

"Listen to me when I'm talking to you, little brother!" Daryl snapped, visibly angry about being completely ignored.

"You sure you can take him?" Connor replied to Damien, suddenly finding himself caring for the former criminals well being.

"He's strong, I'll give him that, stronger than I've ever been." Damien admitted, scowling at his brother whilst getting scowled at right back. "Even if we all took him on it'd be a tough fight, but I'll do my best to delay him so you can get to the reactor."

Having Damien's assurance that he would be all right, Connor darted out of the room as quick as he could. He expected Daryl to chase after him, but to his surprise he just stood there, scowling his his younger brother Damien. Just as Connor left the room the two lunged at each other, their swords clashing.

Connor ran through the facility as fast as he could to reach the reactor after that, sprinting with all his might. The halls were empty, no soldiers to be seen, assumedly still fighting the others. He understood now why none of the guards had gone after him and Damien, Daryl had wanted them to himself.

After running for a little while he came to a set of doors marked with a radiation warning, or at least what had been left of them. Both doors had been smashed off their hinges and were laying on the floor of the room. Ignoring that for the time being, Connor ran in and found the reactor, an enormous tank full of green fuel that swirled around as it was processed into energy. Standing in front of the reactor was Jim, having gotten there early and presumedly smashed through the doors.

"Hey." Jim greeted somewhat nervously as he saw Connor enter the room and run over to him, the whirring of the reactor almost drowning him out. "I have no idea how to work this thing."

Looking around the main console, Connor saw a panel that was rapidly opening and closing, a button in a small compartment behind it. "That's the button Damien told us about, it overloads the nuclear core or something!" Connor pointed out, Jim nodding in agreement.

"All right, I'll take care of it!" Jim yelled over the growing noise. "Just watch my back!"

Connor did as his teammate said, turning around to face the door and watch for any guards or, in the worst case scenario, Daryl. In that moment, he started thinking about how long they'd have before the reactor exploded. Damien had left that detail out, he hopes they could get out fast enough.

"Connor?" He then heard Jim call from behind him in a nervous and shaky voice as the whirring of the reactor died down, a sign that it had begun it's shutdown sequence. Connor turned around to see what Jim wanted, shocked speechless as he saw the situation his friend had gotten himself into. "I'm stuck."

Jim was well and truly stuck, when he had pressed the button, the panel had clamped shut immediately. Even though he's managed to start the detonation, his metal arm was now trapped in the reactor console. Connor immediately panicked, rushing over and pulling on the arm, to no avail. As he did so, red lights started to blink on the reactor and throughout the room, bombs. They realised the explosion wasn't going to be caused by an overload, but an emergency self destruct system, probably in case of enemies taking control of the base.

"Leave me, you need to save yourself, before it explodes." Jim told Connor, looking right into his eyes with a very serious look on his face. "Leave me."

"I can't!" Connor yelled back, furious his friend would suggest such a thing. "I can't just leave you here, you'll be killed."

"I don't see any way I'm getting out." Jim replied, trying and failing to tug his metal arm out of the panel that had clamped around it. "You can at least save yourself and the others."

"Jim..." Connor weakly mumbled, feeling tears swell up in his eyes at the thought of leaving him there. He didn't want to let his friend die but he knew what he was saying was right. There wasn't a way they get his arm out of the trap and there wasn't any point in him dying too.

"Just go." He said one more time, feeling just as affected by it at Connor was. "Tell Yang I love her."

Connor still hesitated for a moment, unsure if he could tear himself away and know he let Jim die, but he knew the choice was clear. As the tears grew stronger, he held out his fist for Jim. He smiled slightly and bumped it with his own fist, a manly goodbye. After that, Connor bolted from the room, dashing out through the corridor and regrettably leaving Jim to his doom.

A few minutes later he came running out of the main doors of the facility, going so fast he almost tripped over. He immediately saw the Kane had made it out before him and was already with the others who had been waiting outside in case reinforcements arrived. Connor ran over to them as fast as he could whilst exhausted from running quite far already, seeing Yang rushing over to meet him in the middle.

"Where's Jim?" Yang asked immediately upon reaching Connor, obviously concerned for his safety.

"Yang..." Connor mumbled, unsure what to tell her. He expected she's probably be heart broken to hear he was stuck in a building about to blow up, but he was also worries she'd punch him harder than ever before. "He said he loves you."

Yang stared at him with desperation and confusing in her eyes upon hearing that, but she didn't have time to ask. The explosion happened before she could, tearing apart the entirety of the building and sending chunks of debris flying into the ocean as the platform itself shook, leaving nothing behind but a pile of rubble.

Ending Music: http/youtu.be/YRLW-llroVw [Fuyugyaku Replace]

! Means a beat in the music

Wake in loneliness! Loneliness!

(Shows Connor standing on the naval platform)

Falling inside your story!

(Shows Murlough standing opposite him)

Walking after you! After you! (Zooms in Connor's face)

I will share my time!

(Shows naval platform)

(Shows Connor in Dragon State) OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS Maykoinda sekai de!

(Shows young Connor in front of his parents bodies)

Boku no kage to kasanatte

(Shows Murlough in Connor's hometown)

Ima! I can't go back!

(Shows Connor losing control of the dark clouds in his hometown) Ketteiteki no boku shoumei wa! (Shows Connor in his original outfit) Jidai wo ima koete monogataru! (Shows Ruby reach out in front of her)

I will be the brand new age!

(Shows Team Kalos and Allies) Yeah! From this day!

(Shows young Connor and Murlough walking)

I will save myself!

(Shows Connor with Kane's shadow behind him)

And the time is now!

(Connor opens his eyes, one is black, one is gold)

Kill my weakness!

(Shows Connor in his original outfit running towards volume 2 Murlough)

Weakness!

(They change to their volume 3 versions)

Kanarazu koete naite satte!

(Shows a flashback of the Murlough VS Connor fight from volume 2)

And I stay alive!

(Their semblances hit each other) Alive!

(Shows the naval base in a fiery explosion)

Saigo wo shinjitaku wa nakute! (Shows Connor's village being destroyed by black clouds)

Kill my weakness! Weakness! (Shows Murlough summoning dark clouds all around him)

Itsuka kidsuita to shita mo!

(Shows Connor going into Dragon State)

I will prove myself that I have lived today!

(Shows Connor and Murlough fighting in their most powerful states)

Starting now!

(They both hit each other's fists and let off their semblances)

END


	27. Chapter 27- Face to Face

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 27

Face to Face

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/KSLG_oeD1yw [Attention Question- Tohka]

! Means a beat in the music

Music Starts

(Shows Daryl standing in Dust Valley, holding a gun. He raises his arm and points the gun whilst flashbacks of his team and his past appear behind him) 

Music stops for about a split second then starts again 

(Shows Connor standing in Dust Valley, looking at the ground with hair covering his eyes. He looks up as flashbacks of Team Kalos and the rest of his friends appear behind him)

(Connor runs at Daryl and aims a punch) 

(Daryl fires his gun) 

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS! 

Are kore kakaekonde omoeba iranai mono made 

(Shows Connor sitting with his head between his legs) 

Umaku naru iiwake to myou 

(Shows Ruby sitting inside of Connor's head with her legs drawn up to her chest) 

na PURIADO! 

(Shows Kalos sitting on top of the stone wall) 

Jibun wo tana ni agete (Shows Jim, Yang, Kane, Irileth, Mars, and Stephane standing in Dust Valley, their hair and clothesflapping in the wind) 

hito no koto aadakouda! 

(Shows Murlough standing on the naval platform amongst the dead bodies of the generals) 

Iu tsumori mo nai kedo! 

(Zooms in on Murlough's face as he punches his hand and grins evilly) 

Mukishitsuni 

(Shows Daryl towards someone) Mawaru Tic and Tac! 

(Shows Damien walking towards Daryl) 

Ganbaru tte 

(Connor and Kane approach Daryl from either side) 

nandarou! 

(Connor and Kane charge at Daryl) Attention! Question! Nantonaku nagasateru socchi no mizu wa (Shows Connor and Kane fighting Daryl with their semblances) 

amai desuka! 

(They hit Daryl's air current barrier with their golden light and black clouds) 

YES/NO! 

(Shows Isabella in tattered clothes with purple energy around her) YES/NO! 

(Shows Mars with green energy around him) 

Atari mimawashita totan ni! 

(They shoot their energy blasts at each other) 

Koko dake 

(Connor goes into Dragon State and launches himself off a rock face) 

toki ga tomaru 

(He flies out and hits Daryl) COLOUR! 

(Shows a massive light in Dust Valley) 

(Shows Connor on the naval platform) 

(Shows Murlough on the naval platform) 

(Shows Murlough and Connor looking at each other from afar, Murlough with black clouds trailing from him, Connor with golden light trailing from one hand and black clouds trailing from the other) (They charge at each other) 

END

Once the explosion died down, all that remained was rubble. Slabs of stone and chunks of metal were piled on top of each other, leaving no trace of any survivors. Yang stared out at the ruined building, desperately looking for any sign of Jim, but couldn't find him. Connor thought she was going to turn around and hit him for leaving Jim there, but he was shocked to see that she was crying instead. He was clueless as to what to do as she stood there sobbing, periodically wiping her eyes with her arm as she came to terms with what had happened. Feeling sorry for her for once, Connor reached out a hand to comfort her. 

Before he could however, movement was heard in the rubble and both their heads shot up hopefully. As they watched, a large slab of stone was lifted and two people emerged from underneath it. The first was Damien, who was holding the rubble above the pair with his semblance, using the air currents to keep it from falling on top of them. The second, with one arm around Damien for support and his metal arm cut clean at the wrist, was Jim. It took Yang a few seconds to process it as the two of them limped over from the wreckage, but as soon as she came to her senses she rushed over to them. Seeing her, Jim let go of Damien and hugged her close to his chest as she sobbed into it. After a moment though, she stepped back and broke into joyful laughter, obviously very pleased to see Jim alive. 

After their happy reunion, the three made their way over to the group, standing in the middle of the platform away from the rubble. Jim and Yang strolled over with their arms around each other's shoulders, smiling at Mars as they neared him. Damien headed straight for Connor sensing he should speak to him. 

"You saved Jim's life?" Connor asked Damien as he got closer, his opinion of the former criminal starting to change. 

"I found him with his arm stuck in the thing, cut his metal hand off clean, then ran out of there with him." Damien explained, wondering what Connor's reaction would be. "We didn't make it to the exit, but I used my semblance to make sure neither the explosion or the rubble hit me or him." 

"Thank you...for saving him." Connor slightly awkwardly said, feeling strange thanking the man who had once held Ruby at gunpoint.

"Anyone can change, no matter how bad the sin. I'm just doing my best to make up for mine." Damien replied, patting Connor on the shoulder as he walked past him to rejoin the rest of the group, who were merrily celebrating their apparent victory. Connor really wasn't sure what to think about Damien anymore, he seemed to genuinely want to repent for what he had done in the past, but those actions couldn't simply be forgotten.

Just as Connor let himself relax and turn to join the rest of the team, a loud boom was heard amongst the rubble. Everyone looked in that direction, seeing the rubble move apart as if something was pushing it outwards in a circle. For a moment after the rubble stopped moving, there was silence, everyone trying to see the cause of the disturbance. They then saw a figure walking out of the ruins, small on the horizon but coming closer. As it did so and they all realised who it was, their eyes widened in disbelief.

It was Daryl.

Music: https/youtu.be/kCkB61zVgEQ [Log Horizon OST- Akunin Makariodoru]

He strolled out of the ruins and onto the main platform, his boots clanking on the metal. His military uniform was slightly dirtied, though his medals still shone. His long brown coat flapped in the ocean breeze, his scraggy brown hair and beard doing the same. As he walked he gave of an atmosphere of great power, the look on his face completely serious and even a little frightening. It was the face of a general whose men had been murdered. 

When he finally came to a stop a while in front of the group, everything was silent for a moment until he spoke. When he did, his gravelly voice was mixed in with anger. "Little brother Damien..." He said, calmly observing the group, before losing his temper and yelling, "You killed my generals!" 

"They were just as unhinged as you, older brother Daryl." Damien responded with unexpected formality, clenching his fists while he tried to hold back from instantly attacking. "To stop your ways, your chain of command was the obvious first target."

"I see their bodies..." Daryl scowled, looking around the battlefield at the remains of his four fallen generals and gesturing to them each with his hands. "You disgraced them, their honour, their loyalty to me. You broke their bodies and mangled their corpses, it is not enough to simply kill them?" 

"You know better than anyone that they did not make it so easy, brother." Damien responded, sensing the tension of the rest of the group behind him rising. "They fought for your wicked ways with such force, the only to beat them was as violently as this." 

"Why do you come now, Damien?!" Daryl bellowed out to his younger brother. "What has changed since you turned tail and ran all those years ago to inspire you with enough confidence to return here?" 

"I could not stand by and watch you kill innocents and other undeserving people any longer, I tried, but ever since I swore to change my ways I have been unable to ignore the foulness of yours." Damien responded, turning up his lip at the mention of his older sibling's dirty deeds. "I requested assistance from this group you see behind me, this ragtag team of warriors, and here we are. We have defeated your generals and you are all that is left standing. Do you have anything to say before we end you?" 

"Why do they follow you?" Daryl questioned, doubtful of the trust the others had in Damien. "How did he convince you all to let him lead you into battle against me? Did he bribe you, or threaten you? Did he blackmail you or maybe even capture you and force you to do his bidding? That's my brother in a nutshell, he's a criminal at heart and he knows it." 

Everyone was quite shocked at that, surprised by the way Daryl saw his brother. They had expected the two to have an unhealthy relationship, but this seemed to them like the kind of hatred that had been building up for years. Connor was the first to step forward, answering, "He did no such thing, he simply asked us for his help. After he showed us what you were doing, we were more than convinced to help take you down." 

"He asked you? Oh really? I find that difficult to believe." Daryl almost mockingly replied. "My brother is a liar, a scumbag and a thief. Why in heavens name would you want to help someone like him kill someone like me, a respected military leader?" 

"You're a murderer! You kill innocent people!" Connor snapped, losing his hold on his temper, Damien growing worried he would ruin their opportunity and provoke an earlier attack than planned. 

"I kill those who deserve it, those who must pay for their heinous crimes." Daryl cooly responded, unaffected by Connor's sudden burst of anger.

"You've killed so many innocent people!" Connor shouted furiously, angered beyond belief that Daryl saw his murderous ways in such a light. Before he could continue however, Damien stepped in front of him and pushed him backwards with the back of his arm, sensing that Daryl was now starting to get riled up.

"This has already gone on long enough, let's end this now Daryl." Damien declared, knowing that Daryl was growing angry enough to possibly strike first at any point soon. "Whether we die, or you die, it'll be over today, here and now."

"That would be grand, but I don't think so." Daryl disagreed, spotting something moving through the rubble behind him out of the corner of his eye. "You are under the assumption that you have defeated all of my soldiers, that is not the case. I have one more asset, someone I think you all know quite well." 

"Who?" Damien questioned curiously, not having heard of anyone else being under Daryl's wing. 

Music: http/youtu.be/3t9RdJtdpzE [SAO OST- Death Gun]

As they all wondered who it might, a shape appeared, walking amongst the ruins. All they could see at first was a silhouette, one of a man coming closer and closer, over the wreckage towards them. As he neared, they could all hear the clink of his feet on the ground, as if he was wearing ironclad boots. The were slowly able to make out features, black eyes, a body surrounded by dark clouds. He had muscly arms and a chest that was just the same, but somehow different. As he stepped into the light next to Daryl, they all realised who he was and gaped at him in shock. 

The man's entire body was made out of a smooth and shiny metal, coloured dark but still reflecting light and looking pristine. He wore nothing on his upper half, his muscly steel chest shown for everyone to see. On his legs he simply wore ragged beige shorts, torn and dirtied. The feature everyone was immediately drawn to however, was his face. His eyes were completely back, his bristly hair of the same colour reaching down the back of his neck and draping around it. They all immediately recognised him, his malicious grin and his dark aura, and were to stunned by his presence to speak. 

"I'm back bitches, and this time, you're all gonna die." Murlough cursed at them, dark clouds circling his body intimidatingly. 

Ending Music: http/youtu.be/YRLW-llroVw [Fuyugyaku Replace] 

! Means a beat in the music

Wake in loneliness! Loneliness! 

(Shows Connor standing on the naval platform) 

Falling inside your story! 

(Shows Murlough standing opposite him) 

Walking after you! After you! (Zooms in Connor's face) 

I will share my time! 

(Shows naval platform) 

(Shows Connor in Dragon State) OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS Maykoinda sekai de! 

(Shows young Connor in front of his parents bodies) 

Boku no kage to kasanatte 

(Shows Murlough in Connor's hometown) 

Ima! I can't go back! 

(Shows Connor losing control of the dark clouds in his hometown) Ketteiteki no boku shoumei wa! (Shows Connor in his original outfit) Jidai wo ima koete monogataru! (Shows Ruby reach out in front of her) 

I will be the brand new age! 

(Shows Team Kalos and Allies) Yeah! From this day! 

(Shows young Connor and Murlough walking) 

I will save myself! 

(Shows Connor with Kane's shadow behind him) 

And the time is now! 

(Connor opens his eyes, one is black, one is gold) 

Kill my weakness! 

(Shows Connor in his original outfit running towards volume 2 Murlough) 

Weakness! 

(They change to their volume 3 versions) 

Kanarazu koete naite satte! 

(Shows a flashback of the Murlough VS Connor fight from volume 2) 

And I stay alive! 

(Their semblances hit each other) Alive! 

(Shows the naval base in a fiery explosion) 

Saigo wo shinjitaku wa nakute! (Shows Connor's village being destroyed by black clouds) 

Kill my weakness! Weakness! (Shows Murlough summoning dark clouds all around him) 

Itsuka kidsuita to shita mo! 

(Shows Connor going into Dragon State) 

I will prove myself that I have lived today! 

(Shows Connor and Murlough fighting in their most powerful states) 

Starting now! 

(They both hit each other's fists and let off their semblances) 

END


	28. Chapter 28- Reborn Old Enemy

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 28

Reborn Old Enemy

 **A nice short one for today. More soon.**

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/KSLG_oeD1yw [Attention Question- Tohka]

! Means a beat in the music

Music Starts

(Shows Daryl standing in Dust Valley, holding a gun. He raises his arm and points the gun whilst flashbacks of his team and his past appear behind him)

Music stops for about a split second then starts again

(Shows Connor standing in Dust Valley, looking at the ground with hair covering his eyes. He looks up as flashbacks of Team Kalos and the rest of his friends appear behind him)

(Connor runs at Daryl and aims a punch)

(Daryl fires his gun)

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS!

Are kore kakaekonde omoeba iranai mono made

(Shows Connor sitting with his head between his legs)

Umaku naru iiwake to myou

(Shows Ruby sitting inside of Connor's head with her legs drawn up to her chest)

na PURIADO!

(Shows Kalos sitting on top of the stone wall)

Jibun wo tana ni agete (Shows Jim, Yang, Kane, Irileth, Mars, and Stephane standing in Dust Valley, their hair and clothesflapping in the wind)

hito no koto aadakouda!

(Shows Murlough standing on the naval platform amongst the dead bodies of the generals)

Iu tsumori mo nai kedo!

(Zooms in on Murlough's face as he punches his hand and grins evilly)

Mukishitsuni

(Shows Daryl towards someone) Mawaru Tic and Tac!

(Shows Damien walking towards Daryl)

Ganbaru tte

(Connor and Kane approach Daryl from either side)

nandarou!

(Connor and Kane charge at Daryl) Attention! Question! Nantonaku nagasateru socchi no mizu wa (Shows Connor and Kane fighting Daryl with their semblances)

amai desuka!

(They hit Daryl's air current barrier with their golden light and black clouds)

YES/NO!

(Shows Isabella in tattered clothes with purple energy around her) YES/NO!

(Shows Mars with green energy around him)

Atari mimawashita totan ni!

(They shoot their energy blasts at each other)

Koko dake

(Connor goes into Dragon State and launches himself off a rock face)

toki ga tomaru

(He flies out and hits Daryl) COLOUR!

(Shows a massive light in Dust Valley)

(Shows Connor on the naval platform)

(Shows Murlough on the naval platform)

(Shows Murlough and Connor looking at each other from afar, Murlough with black clouds trailing from him, Connor with golden light trailing from one hand and black clouds trailing from the other) (They charge at each other)

END

"You?!" Connor exclaimed in terrified shock, the others silent in their surprise. "You're dead, I killed you!"

"Yeah, that's right! You killed me!" Murlough snarled with a frightening grin, taking a few steps closer to the group as he realised what he was saying and started to fill up with dark anger. "You...killed...me. You killed me! You killed me! You killed me!" He shouted furiously, seeming crazier than ever in his apparently perfectly alive state.

Stopping in his fury driven stomps, Murlough then noticed Kane amongst the group and started to chuckle madly to himself, looking straight at his younger brother with an unsettling expression. "Hey there, brother...how ya doing?" He greeted creepily.

"You should be dead, I saw it with my own eyes. Connor crushed your skull like an egg." Kane nervously replied, not sure what to think now that he was being reunited with his thought deceased brother. It was the first time any of the group had seen him truly scared of something, although he was looking at his brothers reanimated corpse, so he was justified.

"Yeah, I remember that, hurt like hell. Did you cry after that Connor, after killing your first? Did you wade in self pity like a pathetic little wretch?" Murlough taunted, making everyone think even more so that he was crazier than the last time they had seen them, those who had seen him before at least. After getting no response from Connor but a silent look of discomfort, Murlough began to explain, "After you brutally murdered me, I woke up in a big test tube, lots of wires and pipes attached to me. I was in this body too, this unbreakable hunk of steel that I am in now, screw my old body."

"What do you mean? How did you come to just wake up in a brand new body, a metal one no less?" Mars inquired, speaking to Murlough for the first time ever.

"Well, that's what I wondered at first as well of course!" Murlough enigmatically answered, moving over to where Daryl was standing and clamping his hands down on his shoulders from behind. "You see, crazy man over here had his top scientists transfer my mind into this body. He said something to me about the mind living on dormant even after the body dies, waiting to be repurposed."

"Don't call me crazy man." Daryl scolded sternly, shooting an intimidating glance at Murlough until he lifted his hands away and backed off.

"I can't call you crazy man? How about big D? Seems appropriate, don't you think?" Murlough responded with near creepy enthusiasm, sporting the malicious grin that everyone remembered him for.

"Just get on with telling them what you want to, then we can get to finishing this." Daryl uncaringly ordered, taking a small device out of coat pocket and pressing a button on it before putting it back. "This charade has gone on for long enough, they need to be dealt with before they can cause any more trouble for me."

"Yeah, I guess I can agree with that. I've been itching to kill every last one of them anyway." Murlough obeyed, cracking his knuckles as he stepped in front of Damien, blocking their path to him. "Now that I've explained how I came to be in this wondrously powerful body, via a little bit of mind transfer, let's get down to business. Which one of you should I slaughter first, I wonder."

"You think you can take all of us?" Jim doubtfully asked, all of the group grabbing hold of their weapons and getting ready for battle.

"Oh, I don't think, I know." Murlough menacingly answered, black clouds beginning to swirl around his steel body like an asteroid belt.

As all this was happening, an airship rapidly descended down behind Daryl, who turned and began to walk towards it without hesitation as the rotors blew a forceful gust over the platform. Regrettably, the group could do very little to stop him escaping with Murlough in the way, but decided to try regardless of the chances. Connor charged at Murlough with his fist ahead of him, the others following behind him in the same way. Before they could reach their metallic enemy however, Murlough stuck a hand out in front of him and grinned creepily, just before unleashing a torrent of black clouds from his palm. The black clouds crashed into the group with the force a bull, blowing past them at the speed of sound like they were in the centre of a dark, agony inducing hurricane. They were of course knocked back onto the ground by the attack, wincing in pain as Murlough admired his newfound level of power.

By this time, Daryl was in the airship, holding onto the outer railing as it rose higher and higher into the air. He looked down on the group as it carried him away, staring at them with utter contempt as they scowled back up at him. Before long the airship with him onboard was already flying away, heading back towards the mainland. Connor was the first to rise again, determined to at least do something about the enemy in front of them, but was too stunned at Murlough's next move.

Music: https/youtu.be/c0XBTkC15DM [Sword Art Online OST- We Have To Defeat It]

While they had been down on the ground, Murlough's dark clouds had been forming a terrible creature. They all remembered how he was able to create Grimm from the clouds, but they had never imagined something on such a scale.

The new Grimm was as tall as a four storey building, and also big and muscly to boot. It's entire body was covered in a thick black fur, including its four fearsome arms and it's demonic looking wings, even it's two chunky legs. Parts of its body were also covered in bone, making it look like it was wearing a shoddy set of armour made from its own skeleton. It's face was covered by a skull which was graffitied with red markings, each of his arms had a line of spiky bones trailing down them, and it's chest was lined with thick rib bones. As for Murlough, he was in the creatures chest, it's skin and fur wrapped around him to hold him in place up there as he glared down at the group.

Then it's defeating roar sounded across the platform, rippling waves in the ocean and announcing the start of the deadly battle.

Ending Music: http/youtu.be/YRLW-llroVw [Fuyugyaku Replace]

! Means a beat in the music

Wake in loneliness! Loneliness!

(Shows Connor standing on the naval platform)

Falling inside your story!

(Shows Murlough standing opposite him)

Walking after you! After you! (Zooms in Connor's face)

I will share my time!

(Shows naval platform)

(Shows Connor in Dragon State) OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS Maykoinda sekai de!

(Shows young Connor in front of his parents bodies)

Boku no kage to kasanatte

(Shows Murlough in Connor's hometown)

Ima! I can't go back!

(Shows Connor losing control of the dark clouds in his hometown) Ketteiteki no boku shoumei wa! (Shows Connor in his original outfit) Jidai wo ima koete monogataru! (Shows Ruby reach out in front of her)

I will be the brand new age!

(Shows Team Kalos and Allies) Yeah! From this day!

(Shows young Connor and Murlough walking)

I will save myself!

(Shows Connor with Kane's shadow behind him)

And the time is now!

(Connor opens his eyes, one is black, one is gold)

Kill my weakness!

(Shows Connor in his original outfit running towards volume 2 Murlough)

Weakness!

(They change to their volume 3 versions)

Kanarazu koete naite satte!

(Shows a flashback of the Murlough VS Connor fight from volume 2)

And I stay alive!

(Their semblances hit each other) Alive!

(Shows the naval base in a fiery explosion)

Saigo wo shinjitaku wa nakute! (Shows Connor's village being destroyed by black clouds)

Kill my weakness! Weakness! (Shows Murlough summoning dark clouds all around him)

Itsuka kidsuita to shita mo!

(Shows Connor going into Dragon State)

I will prove myself that I have lived today!

(Shows Connor and Murlough fighting in their most powerful states)

Starting now!

(They both hit each other's fists and let off their semblances)

END


	29. Chapter 28- Fierce Comeback

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 29

Fierce Comeback

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/KSLG_oeD1yw [Attention Question- Tohka]

! Means a beat in the music

Music Starts

(Shows Daryl standing in Dust Valley, holding a gun. He raises his arm and points the gun whilst flashbacks of his team and his past appear behind him) 

Music stops for about a split second then starts again 

(Shows Connor standing in Dust Valley, looking at the ground with hair covering his eyes. He looks up as flashbacks of Team Kalos and the rest of his friends appear behind him)

(Connor runs at Daryl and aims a punch) 

(Daryl fires his gun) 

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS! 

Are kore kakaekonde omoeba iranai mono made 

(Shows Connor sitting with his head between his legs) 

Umaku naru iiwake to myou 

(Shows Ruby sitting inside of Connor's head with her legs drawn up to her chest) 

na PURIADO! 

(Shows Kalos sitting on top of the stone wall) 

Jibun wo tana ni agete (Shows Jim, Yang, Kane, Irileth, Mars, and Stephane standing in Dust Valley, their hair and clothesflapping in the wind) 

hito no koto aadakouda! 

(Shows Murlough standing on the naval platform amongst the dead bodies of the generals) 

Iu tsumori mo nai kedo! 

(Zooms in on Murlough's face as he punches his hand and grins evilly) 

Mukishitsuni 

(Shows Daryl towards someone) Mawaru Tic and Tac! 

(Shows Damien walking towards Daryl) 

Ganbaru tte 

(Connor and Kane approach Daryl from either side) 

nandarou! 

(Connor and Kane charge at Daryl) Attention! Question! Nantonaku nagasateru socchi no mizu wa (Shows Connor and Kane fighting Daryl with their semblances) 

amai desuka! 

(They hit Daryl's air current barrier with their golden light and black clouds) 

YES/NO! 

(Shows Isabella in tattered clothes with purple energy around her) YES/NO! 

(Shows Mars with green energy around him) 

Atari mimawashita totan ni! 

(They shoot their energy blasts at each other) 

Koko dake 

(Connor goes into Dragon State and launches himself off a rock face) 

toki ga tomaru 

(He flies out and hits Daryl) COLOUR! 

(Shows a massive light in Dust Valley) 

(Shows Connor on the naval platform) 

(Shows Murlough on the naval platform) 

(Shows Murlough and Connor looking at each other from afar, Murlough with black clouds trailing from him, Connor with golden light trailing from one hand and black clouds trailing from the other) (They charge at each other) 

END

Music: https/youtu.be/EI6OfY1h1Nc [Log Horizon OST- Monster Shurai]

For a terrifying moment, all the members of the group could do in the face of the colossal new Grimm Murlough was practically piloting was stare in uncertainty. They had never seen a Grimm of such a size before and didn't know how to destroy it, let alone survive in a fight against it. They all stood completely still, unknowing of what they should do. 

Connor was of course the first to move. He gritted his teeth and sucked up all his all his courage, then valiantly charged at the massive behemoth of a creature, the golden light of his semblance covering his forearms up to where his sleeves were rolled up at the elbow. The others all reacted with a gasp, cursing Connor's reckless attitude. Kane quickly followed however, dark clouds enveloping his arms and leaving a trail behind him as he ran side by side with Connor. "Dammit, you two!" Mars scowled annoyedly, looking over his shoulder at the medics and their airships. "All you medics, hop on the airships and get away from the platform! This is gonna get messy!" 

The doctors immediately did as they were told, following Mars' orders as if he were their commanding officer. By the time Connor and Kane had neared the ginormous Grimm, the airships were already leaving the platform and flying out into the open sea. 

Connor pulled back his fist in preparation to hit the Grimm with a golden powered punch, but the Grimm reacted flawlessly. Before he knew it, Connor had been sent flying backwards by the Grimm's own hand, which was itself the size of a bus. Connor bounced many times on the hard metal flooring before coming to a stop beside Mars and achingly pulling himself up to his feet. "You juvenile!" Mars scolded disappointedly. "Don't go rushing in like that, we won't be able to defeat this thing if we don't strategise!" 

Having reached the Grimm himself, Kane fired a powerful blast of dark clouds towards it's chest, aiming to knock Murlough out of it. Unfortunately, the Grimm moved one of it's four arms in front of itself, blocking the dark clouds and seemingly being unaffected by them. It then swiped it's arm in the air in front of itself, sending a wave of infinitely more powerful dark clouds towards Kane like a tropical storm. Kane was easily blown back by the attack and sent skidding along the metal ground on his back, doing a small backflip to regain his footing once he returned the others.

"We'll have to all attack it at once if we want to stand a chance of getting any effective hits on it." Mars suggested, unbuttoning his pale green shirt like he always did when he was planning to use Mystic State, but not doing so just yet. "Me and Damien will support all of you from range, buffing you up and protecting you with our semblances. The rest of you are more suited to attack, so that's what you'll concentrate on. Yang and Irileth stay at the back and use your long ranged weaponry. Connor, Kane, Jim and Stephane go up front and attack it head on with our support."

All of them content with Mar's battle plan, they arranged themselves into the said position. Connor, Jim, Stephane and Kane stood at the front of the pack all beside each other, whilst behind them with their weapons in ranged mode were Yang and Irileth and behind them, waiting to support the battle with their semblances, were Mars and Damien. The front attacker charged forward first, giving the signal to the others to start on their duties too. 

Kane was first to strike, rushing forward with a punch covered in dark clouds. His fist collided with the Grimm's own, much bigger, fist and sent dark clouds spraying all over the platform. For a split second he thought he could he would be able to hold back the creatures hand, but he quickly realised it was much stronger than he was and began to be pushed back. The pushing stopped however, when green energy surrounded the Grimm's fist, keeping it held in place. Kane stopped his attack and looked back at Mars, assuming he was holding the the fist back so Kane could move away, who called out, "Get away from it and keep attacking, it's taking all my concentration just to keep this one arm from moving!" Kane gave a quick nod and then moved on as told, running around to the Grimm's left side to get another hit in, where Jim and Stephane were currently struggling to avoid it's blows. 

Stephane charged his aura into his cleaver like sword, making it glow blue as his semblance added more force to it, then swung it in the direction of one of the Grimm's left arms and shot off an arcing blast of blue energy from his weapon. The blast hit the fist directly, but when the smoke cleared the fist was still coming down on him. Before he was crushed, Stephane felt an invisible force push him out of the way, and looked back to see that Damien had used his semblance to help him escape the danger. The fist hit the ground with a mighty crash, leaving an enormous dent in the metal floor as it rose back up for another strike. 

As for Jim, he launched his boomerang with his one remaining hand and stuck the blade of it in the Grimm's upper left arm, retracting the wire to pull himself up. He flipped himself upside down as he travelled upwards, kicking his feet hard into the Grimm's bulky arm as he landed on it. He had expected to hear some bones breaking, or at least for the Grimm to roar out of pain after being hit by his powerful kick, but no reaction came. It hadn't even been slightly hurt. He gripped onto its fur as he held onto the undercarriage of its arm, hanging upside down whilst prying his boomerang from its flesh, at which it still felt no pain. He managed to pull out his weapon, but didn't notice the Grimm's mighty jaw opening up and coming closer, intent on crunching him up in it's mouth. Luckily for him, Mar's green energy was the saviour again, surrounding the Grimm's mouth and keeping it at bay so that Jim had time to leap back down to the ground.

Meanwhile, Connor was facing the two arms on the Grimm's right side alone. Using Ruby's semblance of speed just like he had earlier, he was dodging the fists of the creature as they smashed into the ground one after another. While he was avoiding being hit however, he was barely able escape being crushed and, on top of that, the use of Ruby's speed was using up aura every second. After dodging the two arms again as they smashed into the ground where he had been standing not a spilt second before, Connor jumped up on top of the upper right arm and began running up it to get a hit on the creature's face. Once on it's shoulder, he jumped and grabbed hold of the skull of the creature, then delivered a hard golden punch to it's glowing red eye. The Grimm roared in pain, Connor having found a weak spot, and began flailing his head from left to right in an attempt to shake him off as it also raised it's two right arms to try to brush him off. Undeterred by the retaliation, Connor hastily climbed his way over the Grimm's skull and jumped down in front of it, aiming to hit the ground and continue his assault from a safer location. The Grimm reached out to grab him with it's upper right arm, Yang and Irileth firing off shots from their weapons to deter it, but unfortunately no effect was seen. 

What Connor didn't see was that the Grimm's lower right arm was headed straight for him in a powerful uppercut manoeuvre. Before he had a chance to adjust his falling trajectory, the fist hit him like a bus, sending him flying upwards into the air, high above the creature's head, as he tried to recover from the blow. 

Seeing that Connor had been hit hard, the rest of the team doubled their efforts. As a fist raced towards Stephane, Kane sent a barrage of dark clouds into it, driving it into the ground and away from Stephane. Jim then joined the two in standing directly in front of the Grimm, all three of them anticipating attacks from multiple sides. Just as they expected, the Grimm thrust it's fists inwards towards them, intent on crushing the trio with one all mighty smash. Unfortunately for it, Mars and Damien were on hand, and kept the arms at bay with their semblances while Yang and Irileth continued to pummel it with their long range weapons. 

Connor was still in the air, just starting to fall back down head first. He heard a sound on his way down however, looking behind him as he was still way up above the Grimm's head. He was shocked but also somewhat pleased to see what was making the sound. Flying over from the ocean was another airship, one of their own, and on it was Nora, waving her large, pink and metal sledgehammer at him from the passenger deck. Seeing her there and smiling, something he hadn't done very much since reaching the platform, he called out to her, "Throw it!" 

Hearing and understanding Connor's request from afar, Nora chucked her sledgehammer towards him with all her force, it spinning in the air as it flew towards him. When it reached him, Connor gripped the handle with both hands and flipped in the air to be the right way up, then held the hammer up above his head as he charged the golden light of his semblance into it. As the hammer glowed a brilliant gold, Connor swung it down towards the Grimm's skull and shouted, "Golden Hammer!" He then smashed the hammer into the Grimm's skull, the sky filling with a luminous golden glow. The Grimm roared out, holding it's agonised face in it's hands as Connor fell back down to the surface of the platform and stood among his teammates. 

For a moment the group though they had gotten an advantage, but the truth was soon nailed into them as if with a hammer. The Grimm roared louder than it had before, sending a shockwave across entire platform that the team struggled not to be knocked over by. It then swiped forward with all of its arms, sending the group flying backwards onto their backs like they had been hit by an airplane. It then immediately targeted the airship Nora was in, sending a blast of dark clouds from its mouth out towards it. Seeing the coming attack, Nora jumped down from the airship just before the blast hit it and sent it crashing into the ocean, landing on the metal platform aside the others, who were splayed on the ground. 

"You foolish hunters and huntresses with your hero's determination, you have underestimated your foe." Murlough taunted down to them from inside the chest of the Grimm. "This body is so much more powerful than the one I had before, I can feel the aura of it surging through me. You will not defeat me here, not again, I'll kill you all!" 

Music: http/youtu.be/8bMyyAPVqsA [Fairy Tail OST- Juvia of the Great Sea] (Skip 30 seconds in)

"Shut your dirty mouth!" Connor yelled back in response, as Nora retrieved her hammer and stayed back among the others, who were too badly hurt from the attack to stand up. "You talk about us having underestimated you, but you're underestimating us! I fought hard to get here, so I'm not gonna be stopped by you! You won't stand in the way of our objective!"

"Brother, I wish I could forgive you for what you've done." Kane added, slowly getting to his feet after rising to one knee. Murlough looked at him with a disgusted scowl as he continued, "You've gone too far for forgiveness now, you've killed too many. Now that you're back and are standing in our way...I'll gladly fight you with all my strength until you fall and surrender to us." 

"Those two speak wise words, for once." Mars joked as he too rose up from the ground and stood proudly. "We, Team Kalos, have fought many foes before you to get here, I'll be damned if you stop us now." 

Connor, Mars and Kane then all dramatically stood next to each other, facing Murlough and his Grimm monster head on as everyone else behind them struggled to get up. Their cloaks flapped in the ocean breeze as they stood strong and proud in front of their powerful enemy, all of them saying in sync, "We won't go down without more of a fight, because we're the ultimate team!" 

Music: http/youtu.be/p7KZzuwJPGM [Fairy Tail OST- Against Magic]

"If that's what you think, then come at me!" Murlough then yelled down to them, readying the arms of the massive Grimm to crush them with one blow. 

The three of them did just that, they came with force. 

First off, Mars stripped down again, throwing his green cloak aside and unbuttoning his shirt as his green energy intensified all around him. "Mystic State!" He cried out once again as the energy emanating from him reached max power, his hair and shirt flapping in the massive gust he was creating as his all powerful aura was felt all over the platform. In a flash of green, Mars then shot through the air towards Murlough's Grimm, impacting it feet first in the chest right where Murlough was being held up. The great beast wobbled, Murlough wincing from the blow but seemingly escaping his metal body being even scratched. The Grimm regained its balance and swiped its arms at Mars, who quickly dodged out of the way in a speedy display of green, lightning like energy. 

Next up, Kane concentrated his dark clouds in his hands for a second before blasting them out, sending them towards the Grimm in multiple different strands of blackness, all of which hit their target in many places and pushed it back. 

"Here's one from me!" Connor called out as he jumped up as high as he could, using Ruby's semblance to boost him as his fist glowed a brighter, crackling gold. "Explosive Golden Fist!" He cried as he punched the Grimm right in the jaw, his hand sending out a wave of golden light with the force of an explosion. The Grimm roared at him as it repositioned it's head, gearing up for a counter-attack. 

The three continued to assault their colossal enemy as the others watched, all of them too injured by just one attack from the Grimm to get up and help. Jim wanted to assist them the most, but with only one hand and extremely low aura, there wasn't much he could do. Kane shot another blast of dark clouds right as Mars picked up Connor and threw him upwards towards the beast, his arms glowing with the light from the two sword like wings on his forearms. "Golden Dragon Wing!" He yelled, slicing at the Grimm's neck as he passed it. The Grimm roared in response as the three of them landed in front of it, ready for the next barrage of attacks. 

Music: http/youtu.be/3MrT7bKNjH4 [Fairy Tail OST- Erza Theme]

"You three...are really pissing me off!" Murlough furiously screamed at them from in the Grimm's chest, sending a torrent of dark clouds down towards the group of people that were still down on the ground, unable to fight. For a moment they thought they were doomed, there being nothing they could do stop the coming blast, then Kane stepped in front of them. He brought up a wall of his own dark clouds and used them to block the ones that Murlough had sent towards them, protecting them from the blow. 

"These three...how strong are they?" Stephane wondered out loud.

"How can they still be going after all this?" Jim added, surprised they still had any aura left.

"Like they said, they're the ultimate team." Damien said, "Light, dark and the power to tame them both."

"Dark Shot!" Kane yelled out, sending a blast of dark clouds towards the Grimm from his fist. The blast hit the creature hard, evidently having some effect.

Next Mars sped forward at an unbelievable velocity, a trail of green energy forming behind him as he rushed behind the beast. He then leapt up into the air and hit the Grimm in the back of the head with a green energy powered kick. 

Growing ever angrier, Murlough snarled down at Connor and sent a other blast of dark clouds towards him. Connor could've easily dodged with the help of Ruby's speed, but he chose not to. He knew that he could control these dark clouds, he had always been able to use Kane's somewhat decently. Sticking out one arm into the clouds as they impacted him, he concentrated his aura on sucking them in. To everyones, especially Murlough's surprise, the clouds began circling Connor's arm as they died down. After a mere minute, the dark clouds had completely disappeared, fading away around Connor's arm. "How did you do that? You freak?" Murlough confusedly exclaimed, sending one of the Grimm's fists down. 

Dodging the fist with Ruby's speed, Connor ran up the Grimm's black haired arm whilst shouting back, "What did you call me?!" He jumped up once he reached the shoulder, once again propelling himself into the air with Ruby's speed. 

"Go, Connor!" Kane and Mars simultaneously encouraged, hitting the Grimm with a powerful and distracting blast of dark clouds and energy. 

Up in the air above the beast, Connor prepared for his penultimate attack. He had been able to absorb Murlough's dark clouds, thanks to his experience with using Kane's, now he just needed to use them. "The golden light in my right hand! The dark clouds in my left hand!" He announced bravely as he started to descend downwards towards the Grimm. He then held his hands above his head as the two elements began to cluster in them and slammed them together, a dark coloured coloured cloud with golden light shining through the cracks forming from them. As he held his hands above his head and continued to fall down further, the combined cluster of dark clouds and golden light grew bigger and bigger until he held a massive ball of it in his hands. He then swing it down in front of him, throwing it right at the Grimm as he yelled, "Darklight Explosion!" 

As soon as the ball of chaos hit the Grimm's head, it exploded in a brilliant display of light and dark. The Grimm started to fall back as Connor landed next to Mars and Kane, all of them sporting triumphant smiles. 

Just as they thought it was over however, just as they thought they had defeated the beast, another roar filled the air. It was the loudest roar yet, the vibrations it created shaking the platform and creating enormous waves in the ocean. Suddenly the Grimm was once again standing up straight and looking unharmed, its next roar sending a storm of dark clouds over the platform and brutally knocking down even Connor, Mars and Kane. 

"It's still not dead?" Mars thought hopelessly, feeling for the first time in his life that they wouldn't be able to win. "What do we have to do to kill this thing?" 

"I can't even get up, I feel like my muscles are all gone." Kane muttered to himself, covered in many more bruises than Mars. "Is this how it ends, after we've come so far?" 

"You think...that'll keep me down...you bastard?" Connor mumbled weakly, rising to his feet once more. Everyone on the platform was shocked by his resilience, he had taken the brunt of every attack and still wouldn't stay down. Murlough scowled down at him, unimpressed by his determination. "We came here...for one reason..." Connor continued, barely able to stand on his shaky legs, the rest of his body also covered in purple bruises. "That reason...is to put a stop to Daryl! You won't get in the way of that!"

"How do intent to stop me from getting in the way?" Murlough sneered back, stretching the skin that held him in the Grimm's chest as he taunted and leered. "You've thrown all your might at me and you still can't win, you'll never win! This body is immortal!" 

"My ass you're immortal." Connor replied, finally feeling a little more stable on his feet. "Come at me, you bastard! I'll show you how mortal you really are!" 

Smiling maliciously at Connor's battle cry, enjoying the adrenalin rushing through his veins, Murlough shouted back, "All right then, I'll kill you here and now!" He then followed up to his threat, throwing a punch with the Grimm's furry fist. 

The fist would have slammed down on Connor and crushed him, if not for the fact that he had enough remaining strength left to hold it up above him and stop it from coming down and squashing him like a bug. It was hard work though, everyone could see Connor was visibly sweating and was barely able to keep it from flattening him. The teams concern for him grew, but before anyone could so much as call out his name, he said, "We don't give up! We are not...gonna lose here, we're not gonna die! I believe in my strength, our strength. It can carry us to victory!" 

As he finished his sentence, Connor pushed up with renewed force, collapsing to his knees even as he amazingly escaped from under the Grimm's hand. Just as everyone grew a little more confident however, he was blown into the air by another storm of dark clouds, being sent high above the Grimm's head by them. 

"We'll all get there...we'll get to our victory!" Kane suddenly said out loud for all to hear, having stepped forward in front of the group. "We won't be stopped here, we'll keep going until we've completed our objective!" When he finished his short addition to the speech, Kane summoned up many large and bulky tentacles of dark clouds, each one of them grabbing onto the Grimm's limbs and keeping it still, whilst also leaving its chest, and Murlough, wide open. 

"You little bastard, Kane!" Murlough cursed, struggling to release his beast from Kane's grip, but failing. 

"Connor, he's wide open! Tear him out of the damn thing!" Kane yelled up to Connor, who was flipping around and around as he fell down towards the ground. "You finish it!" 

Continuing falling downwards, but with a ways to go until he hit the ground, Connor flipped over in to the air until he was right side up, then yelled down to Mars, "Mars!" Mars, who was on one knee and hurt despite his shield having blocked a good bit of the last attack, looked up at the sound of his name being called and saw Connor hurtling through the air. "Hit me with a blast from your semblance! It'll send me flying back in the right direction!" 

Immediately understanding what Connor meant for him to do, Mars pushed himself up onto his feet, pulling back his fist as it crackle with green energy once more. While he charged up his attack, Kane kept his dark clouds grip on the Grimm, Murlough still wide open. They threw curses at each other whilst Mars powered up, who reached his target power level in a mere minute. "Energy Blast!" Mars cried out as he punched his fist in Connor's direction, sending a shot of thunder like, green energy his way. 

When the energy blast reached him, Connor planted his feet on it and rode it up and up and up. He stood on the surface of it as it pushed him towards the Grimm beast at an incredible speed. While he was sent along, golden light circled all around him, mixing with the green energy from Mars and Kane's dark clouds and spiralling around him as he shot towards his target. "ENERGETIC EDGE!" He yelled loudly and proudly as he slammed into Murlough's metal chest, all three of the different auras striking outwards all across the platform in a brilliant display as Connor tackled Murlough so hard he tore him out of the back of the Grimm's chest. The two of them slammed into the metal ground behind the creature as it began to disintegrate into nothingness once Murlough's aura left it. 

After that, Murlough lay on the cold steel surface of the platform, laying in the large dent that been created when he had impacted. He saw Connor stand up next to him, unharmed, assumedly due to his aura protecting him, and tried to get up himself. He found however, that he could, no matter how hard he tried. "I can't move!" He snarled angrily, frustrated at his own powerlessness. "All my aura's gone, I can't even lift a finger!" 

"I guess you used up all your energy on that big Grimm creature huh?" Connor nonchalantly responded, looking down at his helpless opponent. This man had killed his parents and he'd already gotten his revenge once, he wanted to do it again, but he didn't know how. How would he pierce the body of steel? After a few seconds thinking it over, Connor sighed, turned away and said, "I'll come back for you later, so wait right there." 

"Hey! You can't just walk away from me!" Murlough protested. "Come back here and fight me like a man!"

By the time Murlough had said that however, the airships had already returned. The team was walking towards them, their next objective clear in their minds. 

Elsewhere, Daryl stood in his airship, holding onto the handle above his head as he looked through the open side onto the mainland below him. The area he was being flown over was known as Dust Valley, so named after the great dust mining expedition that took place there years ago. The mining had dug deep into the orangey rocks, making it into a wide valley with steep cliffs on either side and an even steeper drop off at one end. Daryl had been here a few times before looking for leftover minerals, but it was nothing but a barren wasteland now, much like the Grand Canyon. 

Daryl wondered how long it would take the interfering group that Damien had brought with him to deal with Murlough, as he knew it wouldn't be the end of them. If the team had been able to get past his generals, they would at least be able to destroy Murlough's Grimm and once they did that, Murlough himself would be out of aura. Daryl had learned not to underestimate his opponents, plus Murlough was facing all of them at once, a tall order even for him. Daryl had no worries that he could take them down on his own however, his semblance was impenetrable and so he would never even get a scratch on his body. 

Hearing a sound in the distance, Daryl moved over to the other side of his airship and looked up into the sky way above the altitude he was flying at. Surely they couldn't have already caught up to him? He had expected them to take time to defeat Murlough and even longer to recover, even with the special healers on their side. His answer came to him when he saw a new shape moving on the horizon, three airships coming towards his from above. 

Music: http/youtu.be/BYZMifO_2I4 [One Punch Man OST- Battle]

Stood in the side of the first airship as it turned at an angle towards Daryl's was Connor and Kane, both of them neglecting to even hold on to anything as they stared down at their target. Before Daryl could even react to seeing them, they had both leapt out of the airship they were in and were headed down to Daryl's level at breakneck speed. He regarded them with utter disapproval, a tiny unimpressed by their sudden arrival as they fell closer and closer to him. Even when they fell right through his airship, roughly kicking him out of his ship, he gave no damns. 

After being forcefully ejected from his airship and beginning to fall through the sky, Daryl looked up and saw the two of them side by side in the airship he had just been booted from, powering up some sort of dark and light attack in their hands. Before he could see in detail what it was, they had yelled, "Darklight Cannon!" As they yelled that, they fired a long and wide shot of black clouds mixed in with golden light down at Daryl, the power emanating from it shaking the entire valley. Daryl stuck his hands out in front of him and activated his semblance just in time to block the attack, protecting himself from the amazingly powerful torrent of Darklight with his barrier of air currents as the mere force of it pushed him down onto the ground and along the floor of the valley.

[Stop Music]

When the attack finally died down, Daryl was unharmed, his semblance having been more than enough to defend him. He looked up to see where Kane and Connor were now standing, surprised to see they were atop the cliff he was standing a few metres away from the base of. 

Connor and Kane both stood on the top of the orange rock cliff face, looking determinately down at Daryl as they prepared themselves for the fight of their lives. Their cloaks both flapped in the high altitude wind, Connor's sleeves being rolled up to the forearm as usual and Kane's black fingerless gloves still on his hands, their wounds having been healed by the medics and their aura refilled. They were ready for the final battle, and they sure looked it. Just before they launched themselves into the fight, Daryl looked up at them with an expression of absolute scorn and muttered...

"Who do you think you are?" 

Ending Music: http/youtu.be/YRLW-llroVw [Fuyugyaku Replace] 

! Means a beat in the music

Wake in loneliness! Loneliness! 

(Shows Connor standing on the naval platform) 

Falling inside your story! 

(Shows Murlough standing opposite him) 

Walking after you! After you! (Zooms in Connor's face) 

I will share my time! 

(Shows naval platform) 

(Shows Connor in Dragon State) OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS Maykoinda sekai de! 

(Shows young Connor in front of his parents bodies) 

Boku no kage to kasanatte 

(Shows Murlough in Connor's hometown) 

Ima! I can't go back! 

(Shows Connor losing control of the dark clouds in his hometown) Ketteiteki no boku shoumei wa! (Shows Connor in his original outfit) Jidai wo ima koete monogataru! (Shows Ruby reach out in front of her) 

I will be the brand new age! 

(Shows Team Kalos and Allies) Yeah! From this day! 

(Shows young Connor and Murlough walking) 

I will save myself! 

(Shows Connor with Kane's shadow behind him) 

And the time is now! 

(Connor opens his eyes, one is black, one is gold) 

Kill my weakness! 

(Shows Connor in his original outfit running towards volume 2 Murlough) 

Weakness! 

(They change to their volume 3 versions) 

Kanarazu koete naite satte! 

(Shows a flashback of the Murlough VS Connor fight from volume 2) 

And I stay alive! 

(Their semblances hit each other) Alive! 

(Shows the naval base in a fiery explosion) 

Saigo wo shinjitaku wa nakute! (Shows Connor's village being destroyed by black clouds) 

Kill my weakness! Weakness! (Shows Murlough summoning dark clouds all around him) 

Itsuka kidsuita to shita mo! 

(Shows Connor going into Dragon State) 

I will prove myself that I have lived today! 

(Shows Connor and Murlough fighting in their most powerful states) 

Starting now! 

(They both hit each other's fists and let off their semblances) 

END


	30. Chapter 30- Two on One

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 30

Two on One

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/KSLG_oeD1yw [Attention Question- Tohka]

! Means a beat in the music

Music Starts

(Shows Daryl standing in Dust Valley, holding a gun. He raises his arm and points the gun whilst flashbacks of his team and his past appear behind him)

Music stops for about a split second then starts again

(Shows Connor standing in Dust Valley, looking at the ground with hair covering his eyes. He looks up as flashbacks of Team Kalos and the rest of his friends appear behind him)

(Connor runs at Daryl and aims a punch)

(Daryl fires his gun)

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS!

Are kore kakaekonde omoeba iranai mono made

(Shows Connor sitting with his head between his legs)

Umaku naru iiwake to myou

(Shows Ruby sitting inside of Connor's head with her legs drawn up to her chest)

na PURIADO!

(Shows Kalos sitting on top of the stone wall)

Jibun wo tana ni agete (Shows Jim, Yang, Kane, Irileth, Mars, and Stephane standing in Dust Valley, their hair and clothesflapping in the wind)

hito no koto aadakouda!

(Shows Murlough standing on the naval platform amongst the dead bodies of the generals)

Iu tsumori mo nai kedo!

(Zooms in on Murlough's face as he punches his hand and grins evilly)

Mukishitsuni

(Shows Daryl towards someone) Mawaru Tic and Tac!

(Shows Damien walking towards Daryl)

Ganbaru tte

(Connor and Kane approach Daryl from either side)

nandarou!

(Connor and Kane charge at Daryl) Attention! Question! Nantonaku nagasateru socchi no mizu wa (Shows Connor and Kane fighting Daryl with their semblances)

amai desuka!

(They hit Daryl's air current barrier with their golden light and black clouds)

YES/NO!

(Shows Isabella in tattered clothes with purple energy around her) YES/NO!

(Shows Mars with green energy around him)

Atari mimawashita totan ni!

(They shoot their energy blasts at each other)

Koko dake

(Connor goes into Dragon State and launches himself off a rock face)

toki ga tomaru

(He flies out and hits Daryl) COLOUR!

(Shows a massive light in Dust Valley)

(Shows Connor on the naval platform)

(Shows Murlough on the naval platform)

(Shows Murlough and Connor looking at each other from afar, Murlough with black clouds trailing from him, Connor with golden light trailing from one hand and black clouds trailing from the other) (They charge at each other)

END

Hesitating no further in attacking their foe, Connor jumped from atop the cliff face and sped through the air towards Daryl, propelled by his golden light, which now surrounded lower legs, and Ruby's speed. He let out a battle cry as he charged forward through the sky on his way down, Daryl simply staring back at him carelessly. "Who do you think you are?" He bluntly said.

"I'm the warrior of light!" Connor answered proudly, his golden glowing fist impacting with the shield of air currents around Daryl as he said so. A small boom sounded from the hit, dust being thrown up between the two and clouding the battlefield for a mere moment. The second the dust cleared, Connor was straight on the offensive. He kicked out at Daryl's side with one of his golden glowing legs, feeling the air currents blocking the attack once again. He quickly followed up, throwing a golden shining punch at Daryl's head, which he dodged by simply moving slightly to the side.

Before Connor could pull his arm back and carry on attacking, Daryl expanded his air current barrier slightly for just a second, knocking Connor back and sending him flying backwards into the air. Meanwhile, Kane had decided he wanted to join the fight and was skidding down the side of the almost vertical cliff face on just his feet, his dark clouds trailing behind him.

"We're winning this fight!" Connor stated as his foot hit the ground and he started running forward again, saying it more as a threat than a fact. "We'll stop your senseless killing!"

"Oh?" Daryl responded mockingly, unimpressed by the claims.

"But first, I'm gonna kick your arse!" Connor finished, drawing ever closer to Daryl once again as he picked up speed. Sensing the danger of letting him get too near, Daryl moved the air currents around Connor, commanding them to shoot forward in multiple directions and push him around. However, Connor easily dodged the air currents, moving his body slightly after sensing the small changes in the breeze and expertly avoiding the almost unseeable attack. He even skidded down onto his knees to duck under one current.

"It's his first time facing my semblance, but he's dodging it?" Daryl thought to himself in minor surprise. Connor gave him no time to ponder on this however, he quickly stopped skidding and rose to his feet, pulling back his fist as he neared Daryl once again. His forearm shone with flickering golden light, more intense than ever before. Daryl was still too shocked by the dodges to react how he should've, only just raising his barrier in time.

"Explosive Golden Fist!" Connor yelled triumphantly as he punched at Daryl, a thin layer of protective air being all between the fist and the enemy. Before he pulled back his arm however, the light let off a brilliant golden explosion, small but packing a punch. Whilst still protected by his barrier, Daryl was pushed back by the blow, ever more surprised at how much he had underestimated his enemy. Kane then landed next to Connor, his dark clouds hovering not too far behind and soon absorbing back into him as the two stood side by side again.

"I have made the mistake of thinking this would be easy, I will be sure to put more effort into your annihilation from this point onward." Daryl spoke, mostly to himself but still out loud for all to hear.

"More effort, huh? You should've done that from that start, we ain't messing around here." Kane responded cooly as the three of them stared each other down.

"We're gonna be the ones to annihilate you." Connor added, looking obviously angry.

"Why do you disagree so avidly with my ways?" Daryl questioned. "I only kill those who deserve such harsh punishment and yet you see me as a murderer."

"You're killing people who don't deserve it, no matter what you say." Connor replied, the look on his face turning serious at the mention of that subject. "You'll slaughter anyone who even tries to argue with your judgement and you even kill petty thieves. Your superiors may overlook it because of your military standing, but you'd be a serial killer any other way."

"What do you think killing me will accomplish?" Daryl asked, still looking at the two of them with an almost disgusted expression.

"Maybe once your gone, the higher ups will realise that you were a corrupt murderer." Connor answered, readying himself to attack again. He had had enough talk, he wanted to fight it out and get the whole ordeal over with.

"Hey, let's make a bet, shall we?" Kane suggested to Connor, making him look round curiously, "A challenge, lets say. Which one of us can beat him first?"

"Not really the best time for a competition..." Connor mumbled, then becoming more confident as he said, "But I've been looking for a chance to prove I'm stronger than you, Kane."

Music: http/youtu.be/bB_Qpt7TqLM [Fairy Tail OST- Kurogane]

"I'll take the first go, then!" Kane declared, a cocky grin appearing on his face as he took a step forward. As he took more steps, everything seeming to move in slow motion as tension filled the air, his dark clouds began surrounding his body and piling on all over him.

As he prepared to start running at Daryl, with his heel just off the rocky ground, Kane's entire body was cloaked by the dark clouds and the air around him was host to them as well. He had a kind of grin Connor had never seen on his face before, one of an emotion Kane had never before shown. A lust and excitement for battle. "What could this puny little runt do to my air barrier?" Daryl thought to himself doubtfully. "He doesn't come close to Murlough's power."

Just a second after that thought, as the dark clouds reached a brutally high intensity around Kane, he yelled out, "Dark Stream!" He then shot forward with so much speed that no one even saw him move. All that was visible was that he had moved to the other side of the valley in a spilt second, leaving a long trail of dark clouds behind him. He had missed Daryl completely, but done it on purpose. As he had rushed past, the force of being near the speed of his attack alone had knocked Daryl over to the side as if being pushed by a strong gust of wind and also left a trail in the ground like that of an airplane crash landing.

Not leaving Daryl a moment to collect his thoughts and counter-attack, Kane circled around and zoomed past Daryl again from his right side, leaving another dark cloud trail. Once again Daryl was knocked backwards by the mere force of the stream, another trail being carved in the rock. Reaching the cliff face on the left side of the valley and planting a foot on it to turn himself mid-attack, everything moved in slow motion as Kane prepared to charge again. This time he launched himself off of the cliff face and hit Daryl directly with his dark cloud stream. Daryl brought up his hands and activated his semblance to protect against the attack, pushing air against Kane to soften the blow, but he was inevitably still pushed back. Kane kept pushing him further and further back until his back hit the cliff face on the right side of the valley, the rock behind him cracking under the pressure. He pushed back with all the force his air currents semblance could muster, but was only able to avoid being pushed back any further and not repel Kane.

After a few seconds of this, Daryl snarled angrily and increased the force of his semblance, succeeding in knocking Kane away from him and stopping the attack. He then let out a battle cry and rushed forward, his short rapier style sword sliding out of his sleeve and into his hand and his fury grew. As soon as his feet hit the ground, Kane conformed his dark clouds into his hand in the shape of a blade and declared, "Dark Sword!" He then used the sword to combat against Daryl's blocking the steel with the darkness as the two of them clashed in epic sword fight.

Kane could tell Daryl was an expert swordsman. He must have trained hard with his weapon, as he was exceptional at using it. Kane kept up the fight however, blocking every hit and swiping back as his opponent seethed with anger, now wanting blood. As their swords clashed once more and the two of them pushed against each other's blades in a power struggle, they stared each in other in the face. Daryl's face was showing his short temper, whilst Kane was confident, even cocky. "You chose to live the way you live, now you're gonna pay the consequences for it!" Kane threatened over the edge of the blades. Growing more annoyed at that, Daryl pushed forward with his semblance, the air currents bashing into Kane and sending him far back, almost smashing him into the cliff face.

[Stop Music]

"You irritating pests made me forget myself!" Daryl growled angrily at them through gritted teeth as he tried to recompose himself. It had been a long time since an opponent had been able to bring out such fury in him, he was usually so good at staying calm in such situations. Something about those two made him excruciatingly mad. Breathing in through his nose and letting out a sigh, Daryl then said, "For you who make a man like me lose their rag like that, only despair in the pits of hell await. I will purge you from this world just like all the others, for the crime of assaulting a military officer with intent to kill. You will burn and die by my hand."

Music: http/youtu.be/fB5eXq32vlU [Fairy Tail OST- Cobra Theme]

"Shut your damn mouth! You'll be the one to suffer in hell for your sins!" Connor snapped back, stepping forward towards his enemy. "Now it's my turn!"

Charging forward as Kane stepped back and his teammate take his go at the enemy, Connor threw a golden light enveloped punch at Daryl. Daryl simply moved his head to the side as he had done earlier, not being at all bothered by the assault. He then slashed out in front of him with his sword, forcing Connor to take a short jump back to avoid being cut open. He then swiftly put a hand in his jacket pocket and pulled out a small pistol, raising his arm up to aim it at Connor's face. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, Connor yelled, "Golden Dragon Wings!" The gun was then knocked out of Daryl's hand by a golden fin like wing on Connor's forearm and elbow made out of hardened light.

Taking advantage of Daryl's temporary drop of defence, his firearm flying far away from the battle, Connor sped in for more attacks. He swung his arms efficiently and expertly, slashing the sharp, golden dragon wings on his forearms at Daryl, who blocked all the hits with his sword. Just like Kane had, Connor quickly realised that Daryl was quite skilled with his blade, and that this was perhaps not the best way to fight him. Acting on a sudden idea, Connor jumped up into the air flipped over Daryl's head. By the time Daryl had begun to turn around, Connor was already charging up his next attack behind him. "Explosive Golden Fist!" He cried out as he smashed his fist, which was covered in flickering golden light, into Daryl. Daryl blocked with his arms across his chest and pushed back with his barrier, but the following blast of light sent him skidding backwards in his feet, unfortunately still unharmed.

[Stop Music]

"Looks like we've got you on the ropes, huh?" Connor taunted, knowing it would rile Daryl up. "This two on one situation isn't so easy to deal with is it?"

"You dare mock me, as if to poke at the teeth of a mighty dragon?" Daryl replied, trying his hardest to remaining uncaring, but feeling his temper rising once more. "You have seen nothing yet, whelp."

Meanwhile, the other two airships had just come down to the bottom of the valley at the other end. They had decided to stay away from the fight as they descended for fear of being shot down, but now that they had landed, the rest of the team could help out. Mars, Jim, Damien and Yang got off of one airship, Irileth, Stephane and Nora appearing from the other before both of them flew back up in the sky to avoid being hit in the midst of the battle.

"All right, let's get in there. Those two could probably use our help!" Mars orders, bellowing at the top of his voice to be heard over the rotors of the airship.

"I can't wait to go over there and show Connor how strong I am! I'll break that Daryl's legs with my hammer!" Nora excitedly exclaimed, forgetting the seriousness of the situation and acting like her normal childish self.

"Hey, concentrate for just a little while Nora. This is a serious fight!" Yang lightly scolded, even she not in the mood for playing around. She wanted it to be over just as much as everyone else.

"Don't be so stressed out, babe, we got this." Jim added as he walked over, lightly slapping Yang's butt as he did so.

"Did you just call me babe?! And you touched my arse?! Yang snapped at him, feeling a little mad at his sudden wandering hands. "I'm not just eye candy, you big-!"

"Hey, can you two have this little lovers tiff later? We're kinda in the middle of the biggest fight of our lives here!" Irileth interrupted, stopping Yang before she got truly angry.

"I concur, we need to go and assist the other two." Stephane added, smiling cheekily before saying, "Although, I will say Jim has scored a nice arse to slap."

Stephane scored himself a grin from Jim for that comment, as well as a scowl from Yang. Before anything further could happen however, Damien stepped up and told them, "That's enough, let's get over there and help already."

At Damien's word, the conversation ceased, Yang making a note to save a punch for Jim as punishment for touching her inappropriately. They didn't get far however before Mars suddenly stopped in his tracks, stepping to the side of the group and shielding them from something. They didn't have to question what was wrong. A second later a bolt of purple energy came crashing into Mars, who brought up a green shield of his own just in time to protect himself and the group.

"Where did that come from?!" Jim wondered out loud, searching around for any sign of another enemy.

As Mars looked too, another bolt of the purple energy shot into Damien, who was barely able to keep it from injuring him with his semblance. "You all go, we'll take care of this, whoever it is!" Mars commanded the others, who wasted no time in following that order, trusting his judgement. When they were on their way to the other part of the battle, where Connor and Kane were now throwing combo attacks at Daryl, Mars and Damien looked around for their opponent.

Before long they saw a shape jump down from the stop the cliff face and land in front of them and instantly recognised who it was. They looked worse off than when the team had last seen them, having stripped off their armour and now standing in just torn clothing. Their eyes were filled with determination despite the bruises over their body, face and arms and the purple energy floated around them like an ominous aura.

Stood before them was Isabella Charon, one of the four generals.

Ending Music: http/youtu.be/YRLW-llroVw [Fuyugyaku Replace]

! Means a beat in the music

Wake in loneliness! Loneliness!

(Shows Connor standing on the naval platform)

Falling inside your story!

(Shows Murlough standing opposite him)

Walking after you! After you! (Zooms in Connor's face)

I will share my time!

(Shows naval platform)

(Shows Connor in Dragon State) OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS Maykoinda sekai de!

(Shows young Connor in front of his parents bodies)

Boku no kage to kasanatte

(Shows Murlough in Connor's hometown)

Ima! I can't go back!

(Shows Connor losing control of the dark clouds in his hometown) Ketteiteki no boku shoumei wa! (Shows Connor in his original outfit) Jidai wo ima koete monogataru! (Shows Ruby reach out in front of her)

I will be the brand new age!

(Shows Team Kalos and Allies) Yeah! From this day!

(Shows young Connor and Murlough walking)

I will save myself!

(Shows Connor with Kane's shadow behind him)

And the time is now!

(Connor opens his eyes, one is black, one is gold)

Kill my weakness!

(Shows Connor in his original outfit running towards volume 2 Murlough)

Weakness!

(They change to their volume 3 versions)

Kanarazu koete naite satte!

(Shows a flashback of the Murlough VS Connor fight from volume 2)

And I stay alive!

(Their semblances hit each other) Alive!

(Shows the naval base in a fiery explosion)

Saigo wo shinjitaku wa nakute! (Shows Connor's village being destroyed by black clouds)

Kill my weakness! Weakness! (Shows Murlough summoning dark clouds all around him)

Itsuka kidsuita to shita mo!

(Shows Connor going into Dragon State)

I will prove myself that I have lived today!

(Shows Connor and Murlough fighting in their most powerful states)

Starting now!

(They both hit each other's fists and let off their semblances)

END


	31. Chapter 31- The Strongest Hunter

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 31

The Strongest Hunter

 **Here we go, another action packed chapter of stuff. Enjoy.**

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/KSLG_oeD1yw [Attention Question- Tohka]

! Means a beat in the music

Music Starts

(Shows Daryl standing in Dust Valley, holding a gun. He raises his arm and points the gun whilst flashbacks of his team and his past appear behind him)

Music stops for about a split second then starts again

(Shows Connor standing in Dust Valley, looking at the ground with hair covering his eyes. He looks up as flashbacks of Team Kalos and the rest of his friends appear behind him)

(Connor runs at Daryl and aims a punch)

(Daryl fires his gun)

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS!

Are kore kakaekonde omoeba iranai mono made

(Shows Connor sitting with his head between his legs)

Umaku naru iiwake to myou

(Shows Ruby sitting inside of Connor's head with her legs drawn up to her chest)

na PURIADO!

(Shows Kalos sitting on top of the stone wall)

Jibun wo tana ni agete (Shows Jim, Yang, Kane, Irileth, Mars, and Stephane standing in Dust Valley, their hair and clothesflapping in the wind)

hito no koto aadakouda!

(Shows Murlough standing on the naval platform amongst the dead bodies of the generals)

Iu tsumori mo nai kedo!

(Zooms in on Murlough's face as he punches his hand and grins evilly)

Mukishitsuni

(Shows Daryl towards someone) Mawaru Tic and Tac!

(Shows Damien walking towards Daryl)

Ganbaru tte

(Connor and Kane approach Daryl from either side)

nandarou!

(Connor and Kane charge at Daryl) Attention! Question! Nantonaku nagasateru socchi no mizu wa (Shows Connor and Kane fighting Daryl with their semblances)

amai desuka!

(They hit Daryl's air current barrier with their golden light and black clouds)

YES/NO!

(Shows Isabella in tattered clothes with purple energy around her) YES/NO!

(Shows Mars with green energy around him)

Atari mimawashita totan ni!

(They shoot their energy blasts at each other)

Koko dake

(Connor goes into Dragon State and launches himself off a rock face)

toki ga tomaru

(He flies out and hits Daryl) COLOUR!

(Shows a massive light in Dust Valley)

(Shows Connor on the naval platform)

(Shows Murlough on the naval platform)

(Shows Murlough and Connor looking at each other from afar, Murlough with black clouds trailing from him, Connor with golden light trailing from one hand and black clouds trailing from the other) (They charge at each other)

END

An hour earlier...

Isabella opened her eyes, her vision blurry and shaky. The last thing she remembered was being hit by Kane's massive sword and losing consciousness. He had probably assumed she was dead, but he was wrong. She had survived, she knew that. She could at least make out that she was still on the naval platform. She moved her hand down her body, checking for broken bones or any other kinds of wounds, but found something else. Her armour had been stripped off of her and she was in just her underclothes, a tank top and baggy army jeans.

"Ooh, yeah. Just like that. Keep it going." She heard a voice say, followed by the same voice humming rhythmically. She say herself up, straining her bruised body as she rose, but feeling somewhat better already. Looking to her left, she found the source of the noise. Murlough, in his shiny metal body, was sitting on a piece of rubble and staring at a curvy lady made out of his dark clouds, which was wearing Isabella's wrecked armour. Murlough was watching the lady dance and sway side to side, but shortly after Isabella saw him there, he stood up and dismissed the dark clouds with a grunt and a swipe of his hand, grabbing the armour chest piece before it fell to the ground and observing it.

"That's mine..." Isabella weakly muttered, her voice croaky as her throat was dry as the Sahara. Murlough looked as if he thought he'd imagined the noise, then turned his head and saw Isabella slowly rising to her feet and wobbling.

"I don't care, it's busted." Murlough replied grumpily, tossing the armour aside as if all his interest in it had vanished in that second. "Looks as if someone put it through a crusher, it's probably not even worth anything anymore."

"Why are you out? Where are the attackers?" Isabella questioned him, getting a little steadier on her feet and trying to regulate her panicked breathing.

"Well I came out because you lot got your arses kicked. Although, I got mine kicked a little too. I'll get 'em back though." Murlough answered, picking up a small rock and crushing it in his steel hand. "As for the attackers, Connor and his gang of idiots, they went off to the mainland after Daryl."

"Master Daryl?! They're going to fight him?! Try to kill him?!" Isabella exclaimed, her panic coming back to her as she feared for her commanders well being. She stopped there however, not expecting an answer, as she had suddenly begun to glow purple.

"Ah, that happened a couple of times while you were out too. It looks to me like the same kind of energy that Mars uses, the arsehole." Murlough told her. "I guess it means you've finally unlocked your semblance, congratulations."

Isabella didn't appreciate his fake sounding praise, but she did appreciate her new semblance. With this new power, she could help Master Daryl defeat the attackers. She knew they were at the mainland and she knew which direction to go. Feeling determined, the purple energy around intensified, spiking off like lightning as she stared out at the sea.

In a flash she was off, speeding across the water and leaving a trail of purple behind her. Murlough could do nothing but sit still and watch as she left him, sinking into a pool of boredom. If he tried to fly to the mainland, he'd likely run out of aura before he reached it, and so was stuck. "I wish I could walk on water." He muttered grumpily to himself as he went back to crushing rocks.

Present Time...

"So that's the story? You luckily survived Kane's attack and came here with your new semblance to fight us and help out your master?" Mars said as Isabella stared him down from across the valley, Damien standing next to him. "I gotta say, you really are loyal."

"My new semblance seems to be just like yours, from what I saw of you on the battlefield." Isabella responded in a serious tone. "Purple energy instead of green, but just as lethal and just as powerful."

"Just as powerful huh?" Mars repeated, smirking confidently. "You really think your power is equal to mine?"

Music: http/youtu.be/cWiWGojPXNs [Fairy Tail OST- Tai Ma Gekisen]

"I'll prove it!" Isabella responded, thrusting her palm out in front of her and calling on her newly obtained semblance. Purple, lightning like energy shot out of her hand, just like Mars' except purple. The energy travelled quickly towards Mars and hit his arm as he raised it in front of his face. For a moment Isabella thought she had hurt him, but his arm then became surrounded by his green energy, the purple energy hitting his arm clashing with it. He then swiped his arm to the side, effortlessly shrugging off Isabella's attack.

"It did nothing?!" Isabella said out loud, shocked at her attacks uselessness. Before she had time to try again, Mars punched forward into the air with the arm he had blocked the first shot with. A spilt second after he did so, the lightning like, a burst of green energy much wide and taller erupted out from his fist like a cannon shot. The blast ravaged across the valley towards Isabella, who was only able to avoid being hit by throwing herself to the side. The blast kept going though, smashing into the cliff face and creating a humongous crack as if it had been savaged by an earthquake, a similar trail being left in its path.

Mars was quick to follow up with another similar blast, aiming it at Isabella's other side, which she was now falling towards. She had no time to correct her trajectory but, luckily for her, was only grazed by the crazily powerful and destructive blast that shot past her. The grazing alone knocked her back however, her purple energy saving her from major injury, but still not protecting her from sustaining more bruising.

Wasting no time in his deadly assault, Mars then took of his cloak and threw it to the side, also unbuttoning his shirt. Damien recognised this little ritual all too well as the sign that Mars was about go into Mystic State. Sure enough, the green energy around Mars became a hundred times more intense, it surrounding his entire body like vibrant green thunder as his eyes glowed the same colour. He had entered Mystic State so early on in the battle, a sign that he wasn't messing around and truly meant to give his opponent no mercy. He hadn't even done that in his fight against Connor and Kane, during which he had promised to go all out, he had waited to see if he would need to. Here though, he was not waiting. "That power...it's amazing." Damien muttered to himself as he stared in awe.

Finally being able to strike once again, Isabella shot another purple blast at Mars, much thinner and smaller than the ones she had just been attacked with. Mars crossed his arms over his chest to block the blast, once again shrugging it off without even trying. Isabella then fired a blast from her other hand, which Mars didn't even block and took straight to the chest, but didn't even flinch. Growing a little intimidated, Isabella shot a slightly bigger purple blast of energy from both her hands. This time, Mars countered it with a blast of his own, although a much smaller blast than he had before. It still got the job done, completely eradicating Isabella's attack. "You think a tiny little blast like that can do anything against my kind of power?!" Mars shouted to her, purposefully intimidatingly. "You may have a similar semblance to mine, but you are a novice and I am a master!"

"Now you're just showing off." Damien mumbled to himself, quiet enough that Mars wouldn't here him, even though he spoke the truth.

Before Isabella could throw another attack at him, Mars suddenly rushed forward and appeared in front of her in a blaze of green light, his hands joined together above his head and collecting more and more green energy. It quickly built up and become more volatile, then Mars swung his fists down and yelled, "Energy Hammer!" He then slammed the energy collected in his fists into the ground in front of Isabella, even just a near miss throwing her backwards brutally as the ground crumbled beneath her and green energy shot out all over.

Not giving her a chance to recover, Mars then punched the air again as the green energy moved around his hand in a different way and yelled, "Energy Spiral!" When the energy launched out this time, it did so in a spiralling fashion, creating an enormous swirling vortex of green thunderous energy. Isabella was this time caught right in the middle of the attack, and was thrown backwards screaming in pain. The rocky ground was ripped apart by the spiral too. Isabella only stopped when she hit the cliff face with a crash.

Mars then charged up for an even more powerful attack, concentrating his aura in his fists as he held his hands together in a ball. He then held his hands at his left side and swung them forward whilst shouting, "Secret Art! Energy Drill!" As he did so, a massive beam of rotating energy came blasting out of thin air, headed for Isabella. The blast was the same attack Mars had used to finish off Jorge of the four generals, but while it was still spinning like a drill, it came from thin air this time instead of from the sky. Mars swiftly followed up by holding his two hands by his right side and swinging them forward in the same motion, sending a second Energy Drill towards Isabella.

Isabella didn't even have time to prepare for the hit, but luckily for her the blasts hit the rock face above her. For a moment she thought Mars had missed, but soon realised he had done it on purpose, the the reason of creating a rockfall. The blasts had smashed the cliff face to pieces and chunks of rock were now falling down towards her. Mars wasn't finished there however, he sped up above all of the rocks and then spread his green energy over all of them, speeding and powering them up. Similarly to Kane's Dark Rain, but much more powerful, the rocks crashed into the ground creating an enormous green explosion that engulfed most of that end of the valley. Damien was almost blown away by the gust it created, which also blew up a cloud of dust.

Mars reappeared next to Damien seconds later, having returned to his normal state but still with no cloak and an unbuttoned shirt. He no longer had his green energy surrounding him, but did not look tired, suggesting that he had exited Mystic State of his own accord instead of running out of aura. He assumed the battle to be over.

That was however, not the case. When the dust settled, Isabella could be seen standing amongst what was left of the valley floor. Mars and Damien spied the remnants of a purple shield she had erected disappearing, but had hadn't been enough to fully protect her. She was more bruised than before, very severely at this point, and was barely standing straight on her feet. "You're a stubborn one, aren't you?" Mars teased, seeing she was in bad shape. "That'll teach you to underestimate me, your novice skills with that semblance are nothing compared to mine."

Despite his taunting and her injuries, Isabella tried to move forward. She staggered and almost fell but kept going, intent on carrying on the fight. "You should just lay down and give up." Damien advised her. "You can't win against Mars, he's one of the strongest hunters I know, possibly one of the strongest alive."

"I will not fall..." Isabella weakly replied, defying her enemies wishes even in her agony. "I will...make Master Daryl proud..."

Music: http/youtu.be/Yd4834VoAq0 [Fairy Tail OST- Black Wizard Heart]

While all that was happening over on Mars and Damien's side of the valley, Connor and Kane were still busy fighting Daryl.

"Take one to the face already!" Connor yelled angrily, his temper growing at his inability to land any hits on his opponent due to the air shield. He then launched a punch at Daryl, his fist shining with golden light, but it didn't even make it close. Daryl's air barrier had formed a sphere around him, meaning that no attacks would get through. So it was that Connor's punch was unable to penetrate the barrier and Connor himself was pushed back by the air currents.

Kane was quick on the ball to strike next, kicking out at Daryl with a dark cloud covered boot. Once again however, the attack was blocked by the air currents with next to no effort from Daryl, and Kane was sent flying backwards. "That's starting to really annoy me now, you bastard!" He snapped, getting just as mad as Connor was.

"Your pathetic excuses for attacks have no hope of breaking through my semblances defensive capabilities, you will die by my hand." Daryl replied sternly, holding his sword towards them and readying for a strike. He was quickly distracted however, by a fiery blast hitting his air barrier and creating a small cloud of smoke. Looking round just as Connor and Kane also did, he saw Yang, Stephane, Nora, Jim and Irileth running towards him. Acting before they could shoot at him again, Daryl raised a hand in their direction and unleashed his wind currents upon them like a powerful hurricane, making them stop in their tracks and cling to each other to avoid flying backwards.

Fortunately Kane was ready to help, tackling himself into the side of Daryl's air barrier whilst covered in dark clouds. The attack served as a useful distraction, drawing Daryl's attention away from the others for a short moment and giving them time to reach the battle. Stephane was the first to strike, swinging his great-sword from right to left and slamming it into the side of Daryl's air barrier, having no effect. Daryl pushed his air currents outwards again to try to deter Stephane, but he used his semblance to keep his feet lodged on the ground. Stephane then charged his semblance into his sword, costing it with a sea blue aura, then swung it downwards at Daryl. Of course the hit was blocked once again by the air currents and once again Daryl pushed it away, but this time Stephane's sword flew out of his hand, snapping in two as it hit the ground. Stephane groaned in annoyance, using his semblance on his shield to protect from the next blast of air currents.

Next up, Yang came rushing up front and starting smashing into Daryl's barrier as hard as she could, sending splinters of shotguns shells everywhere in her fiery rage. Getting nowhere, she smashed her fists together to activate her semblance and increase her power tenfold, then smashed her fist into the barrier one more time. Daryl was ever so slightly pushed backwards by that hit, but was still unharmed thanks to his barrier, and swiftly pushed Yang away.

Thirdly, Irileth's purple energy whips came swinging in from afar as she leapt forward. Daryl slashed with his sword, slicing right through the whips and rendering them useless. Irileth thought quickly and changed her weapons into pistol mode, then began firing small rounds of purple energy at Daryl's barrier. Yang promptly joined in and began shooting balls of flame from her gauntlets, but all the gunfire still had no effect. Daryl once again pushed them away, except this time they managed to grab onto Stephane's shield before being blown too far away, it still being firmly planted in the ground.

Running past those three and heading straight for the target next were Nora and Jim. The two of them ran right in front of Daryl, Nora swinging her sledgehammer and Jim punching with his strength enhanced fist. Still no effect was seen, and the two of them were sent skidding back on their buttocks by the air currents.

"Does nothing get through this bastards semblance?" Connor exclaimed in his fury of not being able to land any hits. He ran at Daryl again from the left, Kane running from the right. As the two of them thrust their fists towards him on opposite sides, Daryl stuck his hands out to both sides and pushed with his air currents. Connor and Kane's punches both hit the barrier, but managed to not be blown back, at least at first. They both struggled to walk through the hurricane speed winds, Kane's dark clouds trailing off behind him and Connor's golden light doing the same. After realising they weren't being pushed back, Daryl increased his semblances force, blasting them back with his strongest gust yet. Both of them went flying backwards into the cliffs on either sides of the valley, breaking the rock where they impacted.

[Stop Music]

"What a pathetic attempt, I don't know how you invigorated such anger in me earlier, you are nothing." Daryl sneered at them as the others looked on in worry at Kane and Connor wobbling on their feet. The two of them were badly injured after being slammed into the rock, covered in terrible bruises.

"We won't let you get away with saying that...bastard." Connor replied sternly, both him and Kane becoming more steady on their feet. "Saying we're pathetic and weak...we'll change your mind..."

"We'll beat it into you!"

Ending Music: http/youtu.be/YRLW-llroVw [Fuyugyaku Replace]

! Means a beat in the music

Wake in loneliness! Loneliness!

(Shows Connor standing on the naval platform)

Falling inside your story!

(Shows Murlough standing opposite him)

Walking after you! After you! (Zooms in Connor's face)

I will share my time!

(Shows naval platform)

(Shows Connor in Dragon State) OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS Maykoinda sekai de!

(Shows young Connor in front of his parents bodies)

Boku no kage to kasanatte

(Shows Murlough in Connor's hometown)

Ima! I can't go back!

(Shows Connor losing control of the dark clouds in his hometown) Ketteiteki no boku shoumei wa! (Shows Connor in his original outfit) Jidai wo ima koete monogataru! (Shows Ruby reach out in front of her)

I will be the brand new age!

(Shows Team Kalos and Allies) Yeah! From this day!

(Shows young Connor and Murlough walking)

I will save myself!

(Shows Connor with Kane's shadow behind him)

And the time is now!

(Connor opens his eyes, one is black, one is gold)

Kill my weakness!

(Shows Connor in his original outfit running towards volume 2 Murlough)

Weakness!

(They change to their volume 3 versions)

Kanarazu koete naite satte!

(Shows a flashback of the Murlough VS Connor fight from volume 2)

And I stay alive!

(Their semblances hit each other) Alive!

(Shows the naval base in a fiery explosion)

Saigo wo shinjitaku wa nakute! (Shows Connor's village being destroyed by black clouds)

Kill my weakness! Weakness! (Shows Murlough summoning dark clouds all around him)

Itsuka kidsuita to shita mo!

(Shows Connor going into Dragon State)

I will prove myself that I have lived today!

(Shows Connor and Murlough fighting in their most powerful states)

Starting now!

(They both hit each other's fists and let off their semblances)

END


	32. Another One Bitea The Dust

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 22

Another One Bites the Dust

 **MOAR ACTION!!**

Music: https/youtu.be/03ikrnkXpzU [Fairy Tail OP 13]

[Music starts, pans up to show the massive floating arena, full of people]

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS VOLUME 6

[Shows a close up of the crowd looking pumped]

TANJUN DAKEDO

[Shows Connor, Cobra and Ozpin talking in the judges box]

JUNSUI NA YATSU!

[Shows Logan step into the arena and clench his fists, letting out a battlecry as the silhouette of a dragon appears behind him]

SONO ME NI WA ITSUMO UTSUTTSEINDA!

[Shows George spin and dance forward, ending with holding his western style hat down over his face to look cool]

TAISETSU NAI MONO!

[Shows Naomi timidly turning and waving with a smile]

ASHITA NO KOTO!

[Shows Dean glaring and slinging his massive weapon over his shoulder]

HONTOU NO TSUYOSA!

[Shows Team FNGL standing together]

GA NANIKATTE KOTO!

[Quickly shows a flash of Team FLCN]

OH OH!

[Shows Greed walking forward through darkness, joined by a few other dark silhouettes]

KIMI NO KOTO WO OMOIDASHITE!

[A tall dark figure steps in front of them all, their cloak flapping as they stare into the camera with a dark purple eye]

CHIPPOKE NA JIBUNGA OKASHIKUNATTA!

[Shows Jim and Kane take stances next to each other, Kane being straight faced while Jim sticks his arms out and smiles. Then, Harry and Marie appear in front and cheer]

NANIMOKAMO HOURIDASHITE MIRAKURU MISETE YARU!

[Shows Harry running with all he's got, getting exhausted, with Cole and Nathan hot on his heels]

MAE NI MAE MI

[Kane passes all of them]

MOTTO!

[Shows Dean, George and Logan competing for first place]

MAI NI ZENRYOKU DE KAKERO!

[Shows side characters such as Ruby, Osiria and Irileth cheering in the crowds]

ZETTAI KOU DA TO OMOTTA TOKI GA UNMEI

[Zooms in fast on Dean's back as he looks over his shoulder, looking calm and confident]

SA!

[Dean dodges Lucy's attack with a flip and shoots dark clouds at her whilst in mid air]

SEIIPPAI NO!

[Shows Leanne grin and send out a hydra head made of cherry red flames]

KOE DEMOTTE SOUL MOTTE!

[Jim dodges it with a burst of speed, then reappears dashing out of the smoke behind her, grinning as he clenches a fist]

BUTSUKATTE IKE YO!

[Shows Kane fire off two massive dark cloud blasts on either side of himself]

SANKOUSHO WO

[Shows Harry weaving through them with a fist pulled back as white light pulses through his finger, then a white burst of energy comes out when punches the air, the recoil lifting him off the ground]

NIRANDEDATTE NAN MO NAN NEE SA!

[Shows Naomi and Gale facing off in the arena]

OH OH OH OH OH OH!

[Music continues, shows Nate agilely dodging punches as George grits his teeth and keeps trying to land a hit]

[Shows Yang yelling at the fighters from the stands]

[Shows Osiria standing on Ruby's lap and cheering]

[Shows a quick shot of Deagle, then Carter and Lime in the commentators chairs]

[Shows Cobra and Ozpin look up from their judges chairs]

[Connor drops into the middle chair, zooms out until a shot of the judges booth overlooking all the fighters]

END

"I...I will make Master Daryl proud of me...I will destroy you..." Isabella weakly threatened, barely able to stand on her feet without wobbling after Mars' barrage of super powered attacks. The only reason she could still stand was her semblance, the similarities between her purple energy and Mars' green energy meant she had a slight resistance.

"Make all the claims you want, but you won't be able to do anything in your condition." Mars disagreed, knowing the extent of the damage he had done to her. "I've hit you with energy attack after energy attack, I'm surprised you haven't yet keeled over."

"You should just lay down and give up while you still can." Damien added, wanting to get this battle over with so they could go and help the rest of the team fight Daryl. "If you continue to oppose us, you will die."

"I...will not...disappoint...MASTER DARYL!" Isabella suddenly screamed in response, her entire body pulsing with incredible energy. She was surrounded by energy like Mars', but purple, and it's power was more like some of the attacks he had used. Her hair waved about above her head, being blown around by the force of the energy around her as it ravaged through her body. The sudden burst of aura had given her great power, but her injured body was taking the toll for it. She was in pain, but was going for it anyway.

Once she had stabilised the energy around her, she collected it in her hand, forming it into a pulsing purple ball that looked like it was bubbling with an acidic aura. The ball grew larger and larger, until it was the size of a football, and was releasing an enormous amount of aura just by being held there. Pulling her arm back and preparing to throw, Isabella yelled, "Secret Art! Atomic Ripper!" She then tossed the ball towards Mars at an incredible speed, so fast he could barely track it with his eyes as he worked quickly to bring up a shield.

He hadn't had time to do so however, before Damien had stepped in front of him and taken the full force of the attack. He had attempted to block it with his semblance, but was nowhere near as adept with it as his brother Daryl, and so took the ball to his chest. The ball radiated with indigo energy as it blasted aura straight into Damien, he screaming in pain as it scarred his chest. When the bright blast finally died down, Damien fell back, Mars catching him and laying him down on the rocky ground.

The attack had done severe damage, damage that didn't look like it would heal quickly. Damien's chest was scarred to all hell, the contact of the ball alone having seared through his skin and the aura blast having completely disintegrated parts of his flesh, leaving him with small chunks missing from his chest, the holes freely bleeding. His shirt had been torn to shreds, but that was the least of his worries. "Idiot! Why'd you do that?!" Mars shouted at him. "You know I could've blocked it!"

"I don't know that even you could've...it was a hell of an attack...a secret art..." Damien replied, coughing up blood as he finished his sentence trailed off. "Don't worry about me though, I'll live...I think..."

"Take another one!" Isabella furiously screamed at Mars, not even stopping to give the two of them time to do a thing about the wounds. Also growing furious, Mars stood up and faced Isabella, right as she threw another of the dangerous purple balls directly at him.

Music: https/youtu.be/UuJiQWaokBg [Fairy Tail OST- Ultimate Final Death Battle]

Turning around before the ball had a chance to reach him, Mars charged up his green energy in one hand and straightened his fingers and palm into a karate chop shape, then sliced his hand right through the ball. With the help of his semblance, he cut right through the ball, his own green energy overwhelming and destroying it. Isabella looked on in shock as he easily took down her strongest attack with no problem, unable to believe his strength. Mars then wasted no more time, going back into Mystic State immediately.

Meanwhile, Connor and Kane were still trying to break through Daryl's barrier, the others having to attack from long range. Their gunfire simply bounced off of the sphere of air currents Daryl had around him, leaving him completely unharmed. Connor ran forward to attack, covering his fist in golden light once again. Daryl prepared to push him back, but was knocked to the side by Kane's Dark Stream crashing into him again. He almost couldn't stabilise his footing in time to use his semblance, but still managed to send air currents to push back Connor, and then Kane, before he was hit. Getting back up to his feet and feeling his legs begin to ache and his aura deplete, he looked over his shoulder, seeing Mars in Mystic State and Damien on the ground. "Mars!" He cried out, signalling that he could help if need be, but Mars didn't respond. He planned to finish it with his next attacks.

"You have gone too far...hurting one of our teammates like that..." Mars said to Isabella as he began to collect green, thunder like energy in his hand. "Even if he is scum...he's trying to change! I won't stand for you hurting him!" As he finished his sentence, the green energy in his hand stretched out and formed a new shape. It thinned and lengthened itself, taking the form of a spear like weapon, but thundering with green, lightning like energy. Mars then pulled his arm back and, just as he threw it, yelled, "Energy Javelin!"

The javelin flew through the air at an incredible speed, reaching Isabella before she had any way to block or dodge it. The tip of it ran her through, the body of it piercing through her stomach and sending her flying back with the force of it. She hit the cliff edge and upon moving, realised she was stuck. The energy javelin which was stabbed through her stomach and was causing her an immense amount of pain, had pinned her to the rock. She was a sitting duck.

Mars took his chance then. He cupped his hands together and held them at his side just like before, then swung them as if swinging a golf club whilst yelling, "Secret Art! Energy Drill!" The enormously thick and powerful blast came from his fist as he swung, the green energy rotating like the head of a mining drill and hurtling towards Isabella and a ridiculous speed. She openers her mouth to gasp, but didn't have time for even that. The blast hit her head on, completely enveloping her in the rotating drill of energy as it smashed into the cliff face.

Mars still wasn't done however, he wanted to be sure she would be done with this time. He cupped his hands again and swung them in the same motion, but on his other side, sending a second Energy Drill towards her. The second smashed into her just the same, the first still blasting her. He then swung again and again, sending yet another two blasts towards her, and finishing it up with a bigger fifth. Once that one hit, the entire cliff face was destroyed in a brilliant green light. It collapsed into pieces, creating an enormous rockfall. Once the dust settled, Isabella was nowhere to be seen. There wasn't even a body, she had been completely annihilated.

Damien turned his head whilst still on the ground and looked over, seeing Mars had won his battle and left destruction in his path. He smiled weakly, hoping that kind of power could stop Daryl, then winced as his wounds stung. Mars began to run over to check on him, having dropped out of Mystic State, but Damien called out to him with all his energy, "Don't worry about me! Help them!" Mars then stopped and looked over to where the others were still engaged in their battle with Daryl, seeing they weren't doing so well. It was a noble thing for Damien to do, put them first, but at the end of the day he wanted his brother dead. Mars acknowledged his request and turned around, running towards Daryl to assist in that battle.

Music: http/youtu.be_gkpCx5W3gw [Fairy Tail OST- Shippu Jinra]

"Isabella has fallen again?! Useless woman!" Daryl exclaimed, cursing to himself at the thought of having to kill everyone himself.

"Don't talk about people like that, not dead people!" Connor yelled at him, running forward for an attack to take advantage of his temporary open defences. "She tried her best to impress you, to not let you down, and you call her useless?!"

Whilst Daryl was still too shocked over Isabella having lost too pay attention to what was happening right in front of him, Connor punched out with a golden fist. The blow impacted the air barrier, which was still automatically protecting Daryl. The impact snapped Daryl out of whatever thoughts were distracting him, he turning his head and preparing to blow Connor away again. Before he could however, Connor threw a barrage of golden punches at him, so fast his fists were blurs. He couldn't use his semblance to push away, he had to concentrate all his energy on blocking the unbelievably speedy assault. Connor kept up the punches, throwing one after another in a blur of incredible speed, using Ruby's semblance to his advantage. "Kane!" He yelled mid punch, calling for his teammates help.

Quicker than Daryl could even turn his head to look over his shoulder, Kane was right behind him, his fists covered in swelling dark clouds. He joined in on the punching, going just as fast as Connor was, the two of them now a golden and black blur on either side of Daryl. "If they keep going like this, they'll find the weak spot in my barrier!" Daryl thought to himself, starting to panic.

Keep going was exactly was the two of them did. If anything, their barrage of punches became faster as they put all their might into breaking through Daryl's barrier. They both let out a battle cry as the my increased the power of their semblances and their punches, both of their bodies being circled by their respective element. "I'm gonna be faster!" The two of them cried out determinedly.

"They're still competing with each other?!" Irileth exclaimed in comical surprise as the rest of the group were also just as shocked. Despite being in such a dangerous fight, Connor and Kane were using it to determine which of them was stronger.

In a spilt second, Daryl's expression changed from panic to sudden fear as he realised they'd found the weak spot in his barrier. They been punching all over it, all around him, looking for a weaker area, and had finally found it. Connor and Kane's next hits both aimed at the same area in front of Daryl, and the their combined strength broke through the weaker section of the air barrier. Daryl winced and let out a small cry as they hit smashed in the chest, knocking him back over so slightly and opening his defences for another blow. Seeing they were going to try for more successful attacks, Daryl tried to quickly steady himself and held his hand out in front of him, ready to push them back.

He didn't get the chance however, as a ravaging bolt of green energy hit him from the side in the next second. He looked to his right as he was pushed back by the powerful blast impacting his right arm and saw Mars standing there with his cloak removed and his shirt unbuttoned, but not in Mystic State. The blast kept pushing him back, almost knocking him off the edge of the cliff before it died down. The attack had torn the right sleeve of his brown trench coat to shreds, leaving no sleeve on that side, and had badly bruised the arm itself.

He still stood tall on his feet as Mars, Connor and Kane all stood side by side with each other, looking on at him with scowls on their faces. This was the ultimate team, he could see why they called themselves that. He wouldn't let them beat him though, he was far from done. He would just need to ramp up his power levels a little.

Music: http/youtu.be/4HlwLq4cQXg [Fairy Tail OST- Fire Dragon VS Flame God]

The three all felt power amassing around Daryl then, as if his air currents were growing stronger. The wind flowing into him made their hair and clothes flap around in the gust as he hunched over with his arms around himself. When the gusts stopped, he raised his head and the whites of his eyes had turned a blood red. He next swiftly raised a hand in their direction, a blast of air currents much more powerful than before rushing towards them like hurricane Katrina. Connor and Kane were pushed back into the air by the winds, Mars just about keeping his footing by utilising his own semblance around his legs. Connor and Kane grabbed a hold of the fabric of Mars' shirt, hanging on for dear life. Seeing their resistance, Daryl scowled and upped the power of his semblance even more, sending all three of them fat back along the valley, smashing through a wall of rock leading into an enclosed pit with cliffs on all sides.

Having seen all the carnage from the side of the main valley, Damien stood and watched his brother step near the massive hole in the rock he created, staring in at his opponents. Damien clutched his side agonisingly. Most of the damage done to his chest, while, severe, wasn't fatal. His side however had a bigger chunk missing and was profusely bleeding, covering his hand in red. "Brother..." He muttered to himself as his wounds ached and stung, wondering when he should interfere.

In the pit they had been smashed into to, Connor, Kane and Mars painfully rose to their feet, wincing at the bruising they had sustained. They saw Daryl staring in at them from the other side of the whole and scowled right back at him, acknowledging his leap in strength. "Damn...if I hadn't used so much of my aura fighting Isabella..." Mars cursed, damning his recklessness. He had enough left to put a fight, but he didn't think he could break through Daryl's barrier, especially with it at such power levels.

Despite that, he and Kane ran at Daryl again, determined to strike back and win the fight. Kane gathered a cluster of dark clouds around his fist, whilst Mars summoned a load of green, thunderous energy in his punch, both of them charging straight at Daryl. Their hits impacted the barrier, green energy and dark clouds trailing off behind them, being blown away by the winds and having no effect. Running in between his two teammates, Connor charged up golden light in his next punch, hitting the barrier just as they had. He had hoped the consecutive attacks would have some effect, but still nothing happened.

Flashing a furious grin at the three of them from behind his barrier as his anger rose like it had earlier, Daryl pushed air currents towards them again, splitting them up in the process. Kane and Mars were violently blown to his left and into the cliff face, while Connor was viciously thrown to his right. Connor didn't hit the cliff face like his comrades however, he landed on it with his feet and launched himself right back at Daryl as the winds died down. He charged up as much energy as he could muster in his next punch, but was ultimately blown away again, by the most powerful and savaging air current yet.

"Connor!" Kane and Mars called out together, seeing their teammate limply flying through the air as the air currents pushed him back. He hit the cliff face with a crunch and a crash, harder than all the times before. The rocks cracked and shattered behind him, creating an enormous rockfall and burying him among the debris, leaving no sign of him.

Music: http/youtu.be/C7YY8I8oX-c [Fairy Tail OST- We Are Fairy Tail]

When Connor next opened his eyes, he was back in the white realm of nothingness. The realm where Kalos connected to his mind, where Ruby was being safely held. This time however, he was sat leaning against the other side of the great stone wall that Kalos usually perched on. His body was limp, out of energy, probably due to what had just happened to him.

Looking over his shoulder atop the wall, Kalos saw Connor and uncaringly said, "Again?" Ruby must have immediately known what he meant, as she came running around the wall, sitting down beside Connor.

"Rubes..." Connor weakly said to her, feeling the drain of his aura. "I think I was in a rockfall or something, all the smashed up boulders piled on top of me...I don't know if I'll be alright after that..."

Ruby looked extremely concerned at hearing that, hanging her head as if to hide tears. Connor felt a ache in his heart and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Hey, don't cry." He told her. "I promised I wouldn't make you cry..."

"I'm not crying!" Ruby exclaimed, raising her head up and looking back at him. She looked like she had been fighting hard to hold back tears, but had prevailed. She faced Connor with a cheerful smile on her face, keeping her sprits high. "You promised me you wouldn't make me cry...so I promise you that I won't."

Connor smiled back at her at hearing that, feeling the pang in his heart for her he hadn't had a chance to feel in so long. Then, remembering the situation he was in, he grimly said, "He's so damn strong Rubes...really strong..."

"Don't talk like that." Ruby told him, still giving him the sweet, innocent smile he had fallen in love with. "You have to remember that you're fighting for both of our lives now. You're fighting to protect me."

Connor's face went into an expression of mild surprise at that statement. He hadn't expected Ruby to use such reasoning, but she was right. It didn't matter how hurt he got, just that he didn't die. He had to be the one to protect Ruby, to hold onto the promise he had made her when he asked for her hand in marriage. He had to uphold that. Bending his head back and looking up at Kalos, he called out, "Hey Kalos, can you give me a little boost?"

"You humans with your love related nonsense..." Kalos replied, but seemed sincere. "But...I'll help."

Hearing that, Connor and Ruby both grinned happily at each other. They knew that they would always be together, Connor would never break his promises and Ruby would keep reminding him of them in hard times.

Back in the real world, Connor emerged from the rocky rubble, pushing the debris off his body and he stood and started to glow gold. Daryl stared at him in disbelief as Mars and Kane stared in hopefulness. "Still alive?" Daryl said, somewhat grumpily.

As Connor rose to his feet, the others were all amazed at what his semblance was doing. The golden light circled around him majestically, illuminating his bright soul. Eventually it covered all of his arms and shone on his back, two golden dragon wings growing behind him. "Dragon State!" He declared as his power hit the peak, the golden light spiralling all around him as the light on his arms and the dragon wings behind him glowed brilliantly.

Everyone stared in awe at his semblance, hope filling their hearts. They knew they could do it now, he had given them the strength to carry on, by rising again and again despite his injuries. He, the warrior of light, was a shining star leading them to victory.

[Stop Music]

"I'm gonna take you down right now!"

Ending Music: https/youtu.be/iQGAPewPH1s [My Hero Academia OP 2]

[Music starts, shows Harry in the arena against an unidentified opponent. He looks up at Jim in the stands, who gives him a thumbs up, then gains confidence. He grins and clenches a fist, white energy running through it]

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS VOLUME 6

[Shows Naomi stretching to get ready for her fight, a determined look in her eyes]

ITSUKA BOKURA NO UE O SURESURE NI!

TOORISUGITE ITTA ANNO HIKOUKI O!

[Shows George push ups with a confident smile on his face]

FUSHIGI NA KURAI NI OBOETERU!

IMI NO NAI NONI NAZE KA!

[Shows Dean doing final checks on his weapon, looking serious]

FUGAINAKUTE NAITA HI NO YORU NI!

TADA TSUYOKU NARATAI TO NEGATTETA!

[Shows Logan clenching his fist, thinking about things]

SONO TAME NI HITSUYOU NA YUUKI O!

SAGASHI MOTOMETE ITA!

[Shows Harry stretching down]

ZANKOKU GA UNMEI DA!

[He stretches his arms up and looks up at the sky]

SADAMATTERU TO SHITE!

[Close up of his eye as Jim is visible in it, indicating he's thinking of him]

SORE GA ITSU NO HI KA BOKO NO MAE NI ARAWARERU TO SHITE!

[Shows Kane standing in the arena, looking up the sun goes over him]

TADA ISSHUN KONO ISSHUN IKI GA DEKIRU NARA!

[He looks across]

DOU DEMO II TO OMEOTA SONO KOKORO O!

[Shows quick shots of all the competitors]

[Harry sends a blast of white energy out of his finger]

MOU ICHIDO!

[Kane's dark clouds are blown back by it, zoom on his face]

TOOKU E IKE TOOKU E IKE TO!

[George sprints across the arena at full speed]

BOKU NO NAKA!

[Cole looks over his shoulder, looking serious]

DE DAREKA GA UTAU!

[Dean releases a swarm of dark clouds]

DOUSHIYOU!

[Logan propels himself across the battlefield with bursts of flame]

MO NAI HODO NETSURETSU NI!

[Shows quick flashes of Nathan and Naomi, looking excited and fierce respectively]

ITSUDATTE!

[Shows Jim step out into the arena with an arm raised, the crowd cheering madly for him]

ME O HARASHITA KIMI GA NIDO TO!

KANASHIMINAI YOU NI WARAERU!

[Shows Connor cheering loudly for someone from the judges box as Ozpin and Cobra sit quietly]

SONNA HERO NI NARU TAME NO UTA!

[Shows quick flashes: Logan with fiery hands, George throwing a punch, Naomi reaching out, Dean looking serious as dark clouds build up, and then Harry punching with a white charged fist]

SARABA KAKAGERO PEACE SIGN!

KOROGATTE IKU STORY O!

END


	33. Chapter 33- Final Stand

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 33

Final Stand

 **Think I used the wrong opening and ending music for the last chapter, sorry about that, as it probably didn't make a whole lot of sense. But, anyway, here's Daryl's final stand!**

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/KSLG_oeD1yw [Attention Question- Tohka]

! Means a beat in the music

Music Starts

(Shows Daryl standing in Dust Valley, holding a gun. He raises his arm and points the gun whilst flashbacks of his team and his past appear behind him)

Music stops for about a split second then starts again

(Shows Connor standing in Dust Valley, looking at the ground with hair covering his eyes. He looks up as flashbacks of Team Kalos and the rest of his friends appear behind him)

(Connor runs at Daryl and aims a punch)

(Daryl fires his gun)

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS!

Are kore kakaekonde omoeba iranai mono made

(Shows Connor sitting with his head between his legs)

Umaku naru iiwake to myou

(Shows Ruby sitting inside of Connor's head with her legs drawn up to her chest)

na PURIADO!

(Shows Kalos sitting on top of the stone wall)

Jibun wo tana ni agete (Shows Jim, Yang, Kane, Irileth, Mars, and Stephane standing in Dust Valley, their hair and clothesflapping in the wind)

hito no koto aadakouda!

(Shows Murlough standing on the naval platform amongst the dead bodies of the generals)

Iu tsumori mo nai kedo!

(Zooms in on Murlough's face as he punches his hand and grins evilly)

Mukishitsuni

(Shows Daryl towards someone) Mawaru Tic and Tac!

(Shows Damien walking towards Daryl)

Ganbaru tte

(Connor and Kane approach Daryl from either side)

nandarou!

(Connor and Kane charge at Daryl) Attention! Question! Nantonaku nagasateru socchi no mizu wa (Shows Connor and Kane fighting Daryl with their semblances)

amai desuka!

(They hit Daryl's air current barrier with their golden light and black clouds)

YES/NO!

(Shows Isabella in tattered clothes with purple energy around her) YES/NO!

(Shows Mars with green energy around him)

Atari mimawashita totan ni!

(They shoot their energy blasts at each other)

Koko dake

(Connor goes into Dragon State and launches himself off a rock face)

toki ga tomaru

(He flies out and hits Daryl) COLOUR!

(Shows a massive light in Dust Valley)

(Shows Connor on the naval platform)

(Shows Murlough on the naval platform)

(Shows Murlough and Connor looking at each other from afar, Murlough with black clouds trailing from him, Connor with golden light trailing from one hand and black clouds trailing from the other) (They charge at each other)

END

Music: https/youtu.be/BiT8Ct0cQzM [Fairy Tail OST- Metal Theme]

Golden light circled his body in a brilliant display, his arms completely cloaked with the same golden light and the light on his back forming two majestic dragon wings. Everyone could feel the power radiating from him as he placed a foot up on the cliff face behind him. "I'm gonna take you down!" He yelled at Daryl threateningly, pushing with his foot and launching himself off the cliff face towards his enemy, his golden dragon wings helping him to fly through the air.

Daryl regarded the speeding, Dragon State boy in front of him with complete contempt. He knew that his air barrier would be able to stop even this attack, and so didn't bother to even move. As Connor neared however, his low flying body covered in golden light that trailed along behind him, Daryl realised his barrier had a small hole in it. A hole just large enough for a well aimed punch to fit through. He thought quickly to uncover the source of the hole, knowing his aura was not yet faltering, then found it. "Damien..." He muttered to himself as he looked at his brother, he stood on his far left, clutching his wounds with one hand and controlling his semblance with the other. Daryl quickly figured out that Damien was using his own air currents to push open a hole in Daryl's air barrier. "You bast-"

Daryl wasn't able to finish that curse however, as Connor's fist then barrelled into his cheek, having gotten through the air barrier's hole. The mere force of the punch knocked away Daryl's balance, shattering his air barrier and leaving him defenceless. Connor then tackled into Daryl, maintaining the speed he had picked up from his low but fast flight, and pushing him along with him as he kept going. The two of them smashed into the cliff face, shattering the rock apart, but even that didn't stop Connor. The cloak of golden light around him gave him protection, but Daryl was not so lucky. Without his barrier, the rocks tore at his clothes and battered his body. From there, Connor pushed harder in his tackle, burrowing through the rock with his light cloak and taking Daryl with him, scraping him along the edges of the tunnel he was creating.

Soon he planted his feet on the ground of the makeshift tunnel and stopped, launching upwards and burrowing through more rock in that direction. He dug up higher and higher through the cliff face, dragging Daryl along with him and smashing him through the rocks. Eventually the two of them came crashing out of the top of the cliff, shooting into the air. Daryl tried to regain his composure, but Connor was already flipping himself right side up mid air with the assistance of his dragon wings, charging up golden energy in the palm of his metal hand.

"Secret Art! Flash Cannon!" Connor yelled, thrusting his palm towards Daryl in mid-air. A wide beam of intense golden light erupted from his hand, completely enveloping Daryl as it shot down towards the other cliff face on the opposite side of the valley. Daryl was pushed down there with it, not even able to let out a cry as it blasted him, ending by smashing him back first into the cliff face and causing the entire side to avalanche on top of him. Connor fell down from his position in the air, landing on his feet with a great boom and bang, creating a small crater where he landed as the golden light faded and he returned to his ordinary state.

All of the team watched as the dust settled, hoping that the attack had been enough to finish Daryl off, but their hopes were swiftly shattered. When the dust cleared, Daryl was still very much alive, standing in front of the ruined cliff face and panting from exhaustion. He was obviously injured, his brown coat having been almost completely torn apart and bruises covering all of his body, but he was still standing. The team was simultaneously shocked at the fact that he was still standing and glad that they had finally been able to inflict some damage on him. Connor was tired out by his attack, having used a great deal of aura. His cloak was also ruined, the sleeves were completely torn off and the main section of it had been so much it was more like an open, sleeveless jacket than a coat.

Before his brother could make a move, Damien appeared to his left and began walking towards him. He still clutched his wounds, the use of his semblance only having worsening the bleeding, but wobbled towards Daryl with unwavering conviction. "Brother...do you see the foolishness of your actions yet?" He asked. "No matter how strong you are, always assume that there is someone stronger than you and if you give them reason, they will come after you."

"These idiots are not stronger than me..." Daryl replied stubbornly, turning to face his younger sibling.

"Maybe not individually, but together they are mighty." Daryl responded, nearing his elder brother. "Your aura is almost completely depleted and your body is battered, they have defeated you."

Growing angry at that remark, Daryl snapped and snarled, "I'm not dead yet!"

He was stopped just before he lunged out and resumed attacking by Damien's hand on his shoulder. He came to a standstill and stared into his siblings eyes, stunned into silence. "Brother..." Damien began.

Then came the sound of metal piercing flesh.

"Damien!" Came Connor's cry, surprising even himself. The rest of the team also gasped and cried out at the despicable act they had just witnessed.

Daryl had stabbed his little brother in the stomach.

Blood drooled from Damien's face, shock filling his eyes at first, then turning into understanding. Daryl stared back at him with remorse before roughly pulling out the sword and pushing Damien away, blood and flesh splattering all over as he dropped his weapon onto the rocky ground. Damien fell backwards, hitting the rocks with his back and lying still, slowly breathing but on the verge of death. His eyelids faltered, only just able to stay open, his multiple wounds sapping his strength.

Music: https/youtu.be/KUAltcR84k8 [Fairy Tail OST- Flaming Lightning Dragon Roaring]

Stunned into complete stillness at first by the event that he had just seen in front of him, Connor was as unmoving as the others for the next few seconds. Then, for reasons even he didn't fully understand, rage filled his heart. His golden light exploded outwards, covering his body in an instant as he charged forward valiantly, the others following his lead. "He's almost done, let's hit him with one final barrage of attacks!" Connor commanded his team, none of them questioning his plan.

"I'll blast you all away with one final push!" Daryl threatened, then followed up by sticking his hand out in front of him and sending out an enormously powerful blast of air, intending to blow them into the cliff face and kill them once and for all. When the dust cleared however, it was revealed that Jim and Yang had punched the ground, bringing up a wall of rock to block the gust. Nora then smashed the wall with her hammer, sending massive chunks towards Daryl, which he moved quickly to dodge, knowing he was now out of aura and wouldn't be able to use his semblance.

Once he had dodged all the chunks, he received a hard smack to the back of his head from Stephane's shield. Stephane then hit him again, taking full advantage of his aura being depleted, and breaking his rocky shield into tiny pieces simply because of how hard he hit. He then moved around to Daryl's other side, getting in a blue glowing uppercut punch. Daryl didn't have time to recover before he felt Irileth's boot impact his chest and knock him back, then her renewed purple energy whips wrapping around his neck and holding in place. Irileth then held her hands out in front of her and called upon her semblance, sending small purple crows flying towards Daryl, cutting up his clothes and skin.

Running up to Daryl while was being distracted by the crows, Kane collected up dark clouds in his hand, yelling, "Dark Sword!" He then formed the dark cloud weapon and slashed it across Daryl, knocking him back. Mars followed up by yelling, "Energy Spiral!" And sending a spiralling vortex of energy towards Daryl, blasting him with its thunderous properties.

Finally, Daryl looked behind him and saw Connor preparing for an attack. Golden light amassed in between his two hands, the force of it growing more and more intense as he ran. Sliding past Daryl and spreading his hands, Connor then let the light go and yelled, "Golden Wave!" The energy burst out in a wave of golden brilliance, covering the right side of the valley in a shining golden cloak. The blast carried Daryl almost to the edge of the drop off, wearing off just before he fell.

[Stop Music]

At this point, Daryl's body was a wreck. He was covered in black and purple bruises, bleeding cuts and other abrasions. His clothes were ruined, torn and bloodied. He looked to be on his last legs, a man with no way to survive.

To everyone's surprise, someone then stepped in front of Daryl. Damien looked his wounded brother in the eyes, not even bothering to cover his bleeding injuries, the blood leaking from his body and his face turning pale. It was a wonder the two of them were still standing, still alive. "Connor..." Damien said, still looking straight at Daryl but addressing Connor. "Promise me one thing...use your shining light...to drag people out of the darkness..."

Connor was both confused and mesmerised by Damien's words, but also wondered why he was saying them. His question was soon answered. "Promise me that..." Damien added. "I want to know that you'll do your best to do good...where I couldn't have."

After those words, Damien ran at Daryl. He was with him in seconds, sprinting despite his wounds, then grabbed onto him and kept running. Daryl was dragged along, unable to struggle, as the two of them dropped off the edge of the cliff and down to their deaths.

"DAMIEN!" Connor screamed out, running to the edge of the drop off to look down, hoping he had clung onto a rock on the way down. Alas, that was not the case. The way down the the ground from the cliff was so far, it was impossible to see where the two had landed, but it was certain they would not have survived. Connor didn't know for sure why he was so traumatised, he had hated Damien. He had been the man who kidnapped Ruby, who caused so much misery in his and Kane's life. That man had once upon a time caused countless deaths in the pursuit of power, and yet Connor was sad, traumatised, to see him go?

"He wanted to change." Mars said, walking up behind Connor and looking down over the cliff edge with him, also looking quite depressed. "That's why you feel how you do, you knew he wanted to be a different man, he wanted to make up for all he'd done. He proved it too, so many times. He gave us the crystal with no hassle, he saved Jim's life, he took a lethal blow for me...he really was changing for the better."

"Then why did he do that?" Connor replied, clenching his fist in an attempt to hold back the tears he didn't want to flow. "Why would he devote himself to changing and then plunge to his death like that?"

Mars took a moment to think about how best to answer, then responded, "I think that he had that planned from the start, to die alongside his brother. A while back I heard him muttering something about dying for sins and that he might have too as well. After all, he's killed as many people as Daryl in his time, even if he decided to turn over a new leaf. I guess he came to the decision that he should pay for his sins the same way Daryl was going to, with his life."

Sighing at the depressiveness of it all, Mars changed the subject. "Anyway, we won. What now?"

Trying hard to erase the memory of what he had just seen, or at least put it behind him, Connor turned his head towards his old mentor, his eyes filled with a serious and sombre feeling, and answered, "Now we tie up loose ends."

One hour later, Murlough sat on the rubble back on the naval platform, almost having restored his aura to its full level. He had spent all the time he had been there alone for charging up, preparing to escape to the mainland, or at least attempt to. When he heard a buzzing of rotors, he looked up into the sky, and saw the airship. In the passenger area stood Connor, only Connor, looking down on him with remorse.

He had come to finish the job.

Ending Music: http/youtu.be/YRLW-llroVw [Fuyugyaku Replace]

! Means a beat in the music

Wake in loneliness! Loneliness!

(Shows Connor standing on the naval platform)

Falling inside your story!

(Shows Murlough standing opposite him)

Walking after you! After you! (Zooms in Connor's face)

I will share my time!

(Shows naval platform)

(Shows Connor in Dragon State) OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS Maykoinda sekai de!

(Shows young Connor in front of his parents bodies)

Boku no kage to kasanatte

(Shows Murlough in Connor's hometown)

Ima! I can't go back!

(Shows Connor losing control of the dark clouds in his hometown) Ketteiteki no boku shoumei wa! (Shows Connor in his original outfit) Jidai wo ima koete monogataru! (Shows Ruby reach out in front of her)

I will be the brand new age!

(Shows Team Kalos and Allies) Yeah! From this day!

(Shows young Connor and Murlough walking)

I will save myself!

(Shows Connor with Kane's shadow behind him)

And the time is now!

(Connor opens his eyes, one is black, one is gold)

Kill my weakness!

(Shows Connor in his original outfit running towards volume 2 Murlough)

Weakness!

(They change to their volume 3 versions)

Kanarazu koete naite satte!

(Shows a flashback of the Murlough VS Connor fight from volume 2)

And I stay alive!

(Their semblances hit each other) Alive!

(Shows the naval base in a fiery explosion)

Saigo wo shinjitaku wa nakute! (Shows Connor's village being destroyed by black clouds)

Kill my weakness! Weakness! (Shows Murlough summoning dark clouds all around him)

Itsuka kidsuita to shita mo!

(Shows Connor going into Dragon State)

I will prove myself that I have lived today!

(Shows Connor and Murlough fighting in their most powerful states)

Starting now!

(They both hit each other's fists and let off their semblances)

END


	34. Chapter 34- A Destructive Clash

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 34

A Destructive Clash

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/KSLG_oeD1yw [Attention Question- Tohka]

! Means a beat in the music

Music Starts

(Shows Daryl standing in Dust Valley, holding a gun. He raises his arm and points the gun whilst flashbacks of his team and his past appear behind him) 

Music stops for about a split second then starts again 

(Shows Connor standing in Dust Valley, looking at the ground with hair covering his eyes. He looks up as flashbacks of Team Kalos and the rest of his friends appear behind him)

(Connor runs at Daryl and aims a punch) 

(Daryl fires his gun) 

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS! 

Are kore kakaekonde omoeba iranai mono made 

(Shows Connor sitting with his head between his legs) 

Umaku naru iiwake to myou 

(Shows Ruby sitting inside of Connor's head with her legs drawn up to her chest) 

na PURIADO! 

(Shows Kalos sitting on top of the stone wall) 

Jibun wo tana ni agete (Shows Jim, Yang, Kane, Irileth, Mars, and Stephane standing in Dust Valley, their hair and clothesflapping in the wind) 

hito no koto aadakouda! 

(Shows Murlough standing on the naval platform amongst the dead bodies of the generals) 

Iu tsumori mo nai kedo! 

(Zooms in on Murlough's face as he punches his hand and grins evilly) 

Mukishitsuni 

(Shows Daryl towards someone) Mawaru Tic and Tac! 

(Shows Damien walking towards Daryl) 

Ganbaru tte 

(Connor and Kane approach Daryl from either side) 

nandarou! 

(Connor and Kane charge at Daryl) Attention! Question! Nantonaku nagasateru socchi no mizu wa (Shows Connor and Kane fighting Daryl with their semblances) 

amai desuka! 

(They hit Daryl's air current barrier with their golden light and black clouds) 

YES/NO! 

(Shows Isabella in tattered clothes with purple energy around her) YES/NO! 

(Shows Mars with green energy around him) 

Atari mimawashita totan ni! 

(They shoot their energy blasts at each other) 

Koko dake 

(Connor goes into Dragon State and launches himself off a rock face) 

toki ga tomaru 

(He flies out and hits Daryl) COLOUR! 

(Shows a massive light in Dust Valley) 

(Shows Connor on the naval platform) 

(Shows Murlough on the naval platform) 

(Shows Murlough and Connor looking at each other from afar, Murlough with black clouds trailing from him, Connor with golden light trailing from one hand and black clouds trailing from the other) (They charge at each other) 

END

Murlough grinned with malicious pleasure up at the airship hovering above the naval platform, carrying on it Connor. His cloak was still torn up, without sleeves and ripped shorter, looking more like an open vest jacket than a coat. His undervest was also torn to the point where it barely clung to his body. He stared back down at Murlough with a stern glare, looking completely serious. 

"Come to finish me off have you?!" Murlough yelled up at Connor, getting to his feet and commanding his dark clouds to begin circling around him intimidatingly. "Your mistake..." He then brought a shiny, smooth metal hand out to his side, his malevolent grin widening, the dark clouds collecting in his palm. He then thrust his arm forward into the air, the blacks clouds bursting outwards and impacting the the airship, it consequently exploding. 

Murlough's thoughts that it had been enough to take down Connor were quickly corrected. Connor landed just in front of Murlough, his golden enveloped fist hitting the ground where he had been stood just a second before as he stepped back defensively. The impact left a dent in the steel floor and sent forceful waves of aura all over the platform. Connor wasn't messing around, he intended to fight to the best of his abilities. He followed up by raised a leg to kick Murlough in the cheek, but his boot on steel had no effect. Murlough simply sneered as he grabbed onto Connor's ankle and effortlessly threw him over his shoulder, into the rubble with a crash. 

Contrary to Murlough's hopes, Connor rose from the rubble, bruised but still able to fight on. His golden light concentrated around his forearms, forming two sharp, fin like shapes. He then rushed forward whilst yelling, "Golden Dragon Wings!" He slashed the sharp blade wings past Murlough, skidding to a stop and looking back. When Murlougg turned, the attack had failed to make even a small chink on his metal body. Murlough wasted no time in amassing dark clouds in his fist, and blasting them out towards Connor in a wide and ravaging stream. Connor swiftly dodged to one side, barely escaping the torrent. 

Connor got up and ran at his foe as quickly as he could, charging up crackling golden energy in his fist as he went. "Golden Explosive Fist!" He exclaimed as he punched Murlough directly on the chest, a small explosion following. Murlough skidded backwards, still unharmed by the attack, Connor scowling at his own powerlessness. Before he could move, Murlough was in front of him and hit with him with a hard, dark cloud powered uppercut. The punch was hard due to the steel knuckles alone, the dark clouds only made it more painful, Connor gasping at the feeling in his jaw. Murlough followed up with a devastatingly hard punch to the chest, the force of it and the dark clouds powering it sending Connor crashing back along the steel platform on his back. 

Feeling major bruising on his back, hoping his spine hadn't been seriously damaged, Connor groaned as he lifted his head and tried to get back up. The first thing he saw was clusters of dark clouds coming down on him like meteors, Murlough controlling them with his hands in the air. The clusters smashed into the metal surface with a mighty bang, almost completely destroying that end of the platform and sending what remained into the ocean. Murlougg smirked confidently, thinking his opponent would drown, but then reeled back as Connor ran out of the smoke and appeared beside him. Sticking one hand out in front of himself and one behind, Connor called out, "Golden Wave!" His announcement was followed by a storm force of golden light smashing into Murlough, carrying him with it as it travelled all across the platform. Murlough landed on his feet and skidded to a halt as it faded away, still unharmed. 

"Your attacks are impressive, Connor. I'll give you that." Murlough reluctantly praised as he straightened his posture. "Unfortunately for you, my body is made out of the ultimate unbreakable steel. You'll have to hit me much harder than that to even crack it!" 

"To drag you out of the darkness, with my shining light...that is my goal." Connor replied sternly, quoting Damien's last words to him. "I'll pull you out of the darkness you're trapped in, by force if necessary." 

"I don't know what the hell yours going on about, but beating me is a far stretch for you!" Murlough snarled back doubtfully, launching another big blast of dark clouds Connor's way. Connor once again expertly dodged to the side, but was afterwards impacted from above. Murlough kicked him down into the metal platform, the force of the dark cloud burst afterwards hard enough to smash the both of them through the flooring. 

Underneath the platform, the two of them floated in the dark ocean. The support beams of the platform above surrounded them, blocking Connor's view of his foe. Acting too fast to be stopped, Murlough smashed into Connor from the side, bringing a barrage of dark clouds with him. He was surprisingly quick in the water, his semblance propelling him and he having no need for breath in his metal body. As for Connor, he opened his mouth as he was hit, swallowing water. 

Next Murlough hit him with another dark cloud uppercut, sending him smashing through the platform once again and landing back on its steel surface. He then surfaced himself, sending an explosive force of dark clouds out of his hands. Connor achingly rolled forward to avoid being hit, then stood up as swiftly as he could and aimed a golden punch at Murlough, who effortlessly dodged it with a simple sidestep. Connor couldn't stop his momentum and kept going past Murlough, who smirked and prepared to hit his opponent from behind. "Too weak! Too weak!" He taunted, charging up a ball of dark clouds in one of his metal hands, then firing it whilst yelling, "Chaos Bomb!" The ball slammed into Connor, the dark clouds exploding outwards with such force that he was sent flying back into the rubble. 

Barely able to lift up his head after that attack, Connor was met with another ferocious blow from Murlough. "Chaotic Sledgehammer!" He called out, smashing both of his dark cloud covered hands down onto Connor and smashing him through the floor and into the water again. Connor could already tell the dark clouds Murlough was using were far more powerful than what he was used to with Kane. He at first though they were more refined, but that wasn't the word. They were more destructive and unstable, riddled with fierce and explosive power. 

Thinking of an idea to fend off Murlough's next underwater attack, Connor put his hands on one of the steel beams that was holding up the platform, knowing one wouldn't make a difference, and pumped his aura through his arms. His hands glee with golden light, the energy melting part of the metal and letting him pry it loose. As Murlough shooters towards him through the water, he held it up like a baseball bat, smacking him away with it when he came near. He knew it wouldn't have been enough to damage his metal shell, but it had hopefully brought him a few seconds to escape the water. 

Taking the time to climb through one of the many holes in the platform and get out of the ocean, Connor was unpleasantly surprised when Murlough jumped out behind him and smashed him with more ferocious dark clouds. The blast sent him flying back across the the destroyed side of the platform, but he quickly got up again, knowing staying down for too long would only ensure his loss of the battle. Murlough once again charged towards him, dark clouds gathering in his hands and trailing behind him as he went. Connor decided it was time to step his game and clenched his right metal hand, purple lightning sparking from it as his power levels rose. Murlough's face turned to a confused expression as he charged, seeing golden light snake all the way up Connor's arms, circle around him, and form two dragon wings on his back. When Murlough's attack impacted, Connor crossed his golden shining arms over his chest to block it, before swiping it away effortlessly. Murlough let out a gasp of shock, not having seen the power of Connor's Dragon State before. 

Golden energy then amassed in the palm of Connor's hand as he charged up his aura, preparing for his big attack. He pulled back his arm and, before thrusting his palm forward, cried out, "Secret Art! Flash Cannon!" His attack burst out of his hand, a wide beam of golden light shooting out towards Murlough, who brought up a wall of dark clouds to defend against it. Light and dark clashed against each other for a few moments before both faded, Murlough looking quite exasperated. Before he could catch a breath, Connor was in right front of him, charging up his golden light again as he yelled, "Golden Spearhead!" The golden light then covered his entire body like a blanket, and he tackled head first into Murlough. The attack shot off like a spear, Murlough being forcefully pushed across the platform as the golden light trailed behind Connor. When they came to standstill, Connor flinched back from Murlough, his head agonisingly sore from having smacked against solid metal. To his great pleasure however, he saw a teeny tiny chip of metal break off from Murlough's chest as he fell backwards, grinning confidently at his progress. 

"You think you have time to smile to yourself?!" Murlough screamed at him, violently punching forward with a dark cloud covered fist. Much to his surprise, Connor grabbed the fist in his right hand, which was also pulsing with dark cloud energy. Murlough stared incredulously at it, not able to understand what was happening. In a slight panic, he sent dark clouds out in all directions, pushing Connor away from him. "What the hell is going on?" He questioned. "Why do you have those dark clouds?" 

The answer to his question was soon right before his eyes, masking him gasp in shock as he realised what was going on. As Connor stood opposite him, his good eye glowed a midnight black. His right hand was covered in dark clouds, his left being enveloped in golden light. The wings on his back the were still present, as he was still in Dragon State, but one was now constructed out of dark clouds instead of golden light. Connor raised his metal hand and displayed the Kalos Crystal embedded within it, giving Murlough his answer. 

"You..." Murlough scowled, furious at what he had done. "You and Kane...are together again?" 

Ending Music: http/youtu.be/YRLW-llroVw [Fuyugyaku Replace] 

! Means a beat in the music

Wake in loneliness! Loneliness! 

(Shows Connor standing on the naval platform) 

Falling inside your story! 

(Shows Murlough standing opposite him) 

Walking after you! After you! (Zooms in Connor's face) 

I will share my time! 

(Shows naval platform) 

(Shows Connor in Dragon State) OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS Maykoinda sekai de! 

(Shows young Connor in front of his parents bodies) 

Boku no kage to kasanatte 

(Shows Murlough in Connor's hometown) 

Ima! I can't go back! 

(Shows Connor losing control of the dark clouds in his hometown) Ketteiteki no boku shoumei wa! (Shows Connor in his original outfit) Jidai wo ima koete monogataru! (Shows Ruby reach out in front of her) 

I will be the brand new age! 

(Shows Team Kalos and Allies) Yeah! From this day! 

(Shows young Connor and Murlough walking) 

I will save myself! 

(Shows Connor with Kane's shadow behind him) 

And the time is now! 

(Connor opens his eyes, one is black, one is gold) 

Kill my weakness! 

(Shows Connor in his original outfit running towards volume 2 Murlough) 

Weakness! 

(They change to their volume 3 versions) 

Kanarazu koete naite satte! 

(Shows a flashback of the Murlough VS Connor fight from volume 2) 

And I stay alive! 

(Their semblances hit each other) Alive! 

(Shows the naval base in a fiery explosion) 

Saigo wo shinjitaku wa nakute! (Shows Connor's village being destroyed by black clouds) 

Kill my weakness! Weakness! (Shows Murlough summoning dark clouds all around him) 

Itsuka kidsuita to shita mo! 

(Shows Connor going into Dragon State) 

I will prove myself that I have lived today! 

(Shows Connor and Murlough fighting in their most powerful states) 

Starting now! 

(They both hit each other's fists and let off their semblances) 

END


	35. Chapter 35- The Final Battle

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 35

The Final Battle

 **Short little bit of action to wrap this up.**

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/KSLG_oeD1yw [Attention Question- Tohka]

! Means a beat in the music

Music Starts

(Shows Daryl standing in Dust Valley, holding a gun. He raises his arm and points the gun whilst flashbacks of his team and his past appear behind him)

Music stops for about a split second then starts again

(Shows Connor standing in Dust Valley, looking at the ground with hair covering his eyes. He looks up as flashbacks of Team Kalos and the rest of his friends appear behind him)

(Connor runs at Daryl and aims a punch)

(Daryl fires his gun)

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS!

Are kore kakaekonde omoeba iranai mono made

(Shows Connor sitting with his head between his legs)

Umaku naru iiwake to myou

(Shows Ruby sitting inside of Connor's head with her legs drawn up to her chest)

na PURIADO!

(Shows Kalos sitting on top of the stone wall)

Jibun wo tana ni agete (Shows Jim, Yang, Kane, Irileth, Mars, and Stephane standing in Dust Valley, their hair and clothesflapping in the wind)

hito no koto aadakouda!

(Shows Murlough standing on the naval platform amongst the dead bodies of the generals)

Iu tsumori mo nai kedo!

(Zooms in on Murlough's face as he punches his hand and grins evilly)

Mukishitsuni

(Shows Daryl towards someone) Mawaru Tic and Tac!

(Shows Damien walking towards Daryl)

Ganbaru tte

(Connor and Kane approach Daryl from either side)

nandarou!

(Connor and Kane charge at Daryl) Attention! Question! Nantonaku nagasateru socchi no mizu wa (Shows Connor and Kane fighting Daryl with their semblances)

amai desuka!

(They hit Daryl's air current barrier with their golden light and black clouds)

YES/NO!

(Shows Isabella in tattered clothes with purple energy around her) YES/NO!

(Shows Mars with green energy around him)

Atari mimawashita totan ni!

(They shoot their energy blasts at each other)

Koko dake

(Connor goes into Dragon State and launches himself off a rock face)

toki ga tomaru

(He flies out and hits Daryl) COLOUR!

(Shows a massive light in Dust Valley)

(Shows Connor on the naval platform)

(Shows Murlough on the naval platform)

(Shows Murlough and Connor looking at each other from afar, Murlough with black clouds trailing from him, Connor with golden light trailing from one hand and black clouds trailing from the other) (They charge at each other)

END

"You and Kane...are together?" Murlough snarled angrily, fuming at the thought of it as Connor stood opposite him on the platform, covered in a mix of dark clouds and golden light.

"It's all because of the Kalos Crystal." Connor began to explain, holding out the plan of his metal hand to clearly show the crystal embedded in it as that hand was circled by Kane's dark clouds. "It's pretty amazing. I was able to let Kane into my mind once again and as long as I keep a hold of this, I can get him out again painlessly. We've teamed up to stop you, hoping our combined strength will be enough to defeat your new body."

"What about the girl? She was in your mind, wasn't she?" Murlough asked, making Connor scowl at him. He hadn't been aware Murlough knew about Ruby sharing Connor's body whilst they attacked the platform, the idea of it disturbed him.

"She is in a place much safer than here." Connor eventually responded, knowing Murlough couldn't do any harm to her from where they were. "It's just you, me and Kane now. We're gonna finish this, for good this time around."

"Little brother..." Murlough then creepily hummed at the mention of Kane, chuckling to himself. Connor was rightly creeped out by the humming, and he could sense that Kane wash feeling too happy about it either.

"He's still a real weird son of a bitch, what drove him to this point of insanity?" Kane commented from in Connor's head, obviously disturbed by his siblings behaviour.

"That's what we're here to find out. You all set?" Connor replied, bending his legs so that he would be ready to spring into action at Kane's signal.

"All you need to do for this to work is give me an opening. That'll allow me enough time to glimpse what's going on inside his head." Kane answered, signalling that he was ready to resume the fight. "After I've found what we need, we can put him out of his misery."

"You're absolutely sure that's how you want to do this?" Connor inquired, hesitating to attack. "He's your brother. Once we've done what we need to, we could let him go free."

"For his sins, he deserves to be punished, that's what Damien would say." Kane assured him. "But Damien would also say you should use your shining light to drag people out of the darkness, like you did him, so we can at least let him die happy."

"What are you talking about over there?!" Murlough yelled at them from across the platform, stamping in foot in impatience, especially since he was unable to hear what Kane was saying. "I thought you came here to fight, not whisper to each other behind my back!"

Music: http/youtu.be/39QhlEqlAF0 [Fairy Tail OST- Third Generation Dragon Slayer]

"Very well, let's get back to business." Connor obliged, leaping forward with his aura trailing off behind him in a display of black and gold. He held one hand on his metal fist as he ran forward, the golden light mixing with the dark clouds. By the time he was within attack range, his right hand was enveloped in a brilliantly shining black cloud, the light poring through the cracks. He punched at his target with all his muscle power, aiming straight for the head.

Murlough easily dodged the first punch by moving slightly to one side, everything seeming to move in slow motion for a minute as the two engaged in close quarters combat. "Too slow, too weak, not enough bloodlust!" Murlough taunted as his hand moved towards Connor's throat, intent on gripping and crushing it within his palm. Before he could grab hold however, Connor's other fist came up, crackling with golden light and punching into Murlough with a small burst, pushing him away.

Charging forward relentlessly with no intention of letting up his attack, Connor held his hands close to each other by his side, charging up and mixing the two elements once again. The Darklight combination grew in size until he was holding a rough sphere between his two palms. He then swung his hands out and threw it towards Murlough, yelling, "Darklight Explosion!" The Darklight hit Murlough head on and exploded in a burst of light and darkness, although he skidded back yet again unharmed by the blast apart from a few minor chips in his steel chest.

"Still too weak! You need more raw power!" Murlough went on taunting as Connor ran at him again, not even remotely worried about the next attack. Connor prepared to punch him again, only to be punched hard in the stomach himself, feeling Murlough's own dark clouds overpowering Kane's. Murlough then kept his hand on Connor's stomach, using it to toss him over his shoulder into the rubble with a crash of dark clouds. "Pathetic! You're a runt! You barely put up a better fight then your stupid parents!"

Feeling a newfound rage surge through him at the mention of his dead parents, Connor hastily stood back up, shrugging rubble off of his body. He puts his hands by his side again and once again charged up energy, Murlough sensing the power and actually seeming anxious about it this time. Once the Darklight had been fused, Connor concentrated it into a small ball in the palms of his hands, then stuck his hands out in front of himself and shouted, "Darklight Cannon!" The resulting beam was incredibly powerful, just as the times when they had used it before. It blasted out towards Murlough in a wide beam of Darklight, clouds mingled in with light, which slammed into Murlough's chest full force and shook the whole platform as he was pushed back by its ravaging power.

Before he reached the edge, the blast wore off, Connor looking rather exasperated from the effort. Murlough held his arms out at his sides, as if about to boast about not being hurt, but then multiple ginormous cracks appeared running along and across his steel chest. He gasped as he looked down at himself and saw he was injured, but couldn't even curse his opponent before Connor was right in front of him again, his hand around his neck before slamming him into the ground. "Kane!" Came his call, telling Kane to do what they had planned. They didn't get the chance just yet however, as Murlough sent a dark cloud enveloped punch Connor's way, knocking him off of him and giving him time to get back up before Kane could pull off whatever trick he was planning.

[Stop Music]

"You actually damaged this body...not bad..." Murlough sneered at them as he got back up to his feet, his dark clouds orbiting him as he grinned creepily. "I underestimated the power of those Darklight attacks."

"Connor, I didn't have enough time. We need another opening." Kane informed Connor, sounding slightly worried now that the dark clouds around their enemy were growing more intense. "Just a second or two, that's all I need. Just a second or two of uninterrupted time."

"If you want that, you're gonna have to give me a little more power. I can barely get a hold of him, let alone keep him in place." Connor responded, also growing concerned about what was happening to Murlough. By this point the dark clouds had covered the majority of his body, his face being one of the only things still showing through the blackness.

Music: http/youtu.be/Zjb109KA6Po [Fairy Tail- Cobra Theme]

"I'm gonna rip you apart!" Murlough declared as he rushed in to attack, his dark clouds trailing behind him as they clung to his body. He launched a punch as he neared Connor, who dodged unbelievably quickly. The punch kept going however, the blast of dark clouds following it ravaging through the rubble. Before Murlough could even fully turn around, Connor punched out at him with a more power than before with a Darklight fist, sending him crashing into the rubble. "What is this power?!" He exclaimed as he stood back up, surprised by the sudden leap in strength.

"This is the combination of Knight State and Dragon State!" Connor announced upon reaching Murlough again, his hands pulsing with more Darklight energy as he held them by his side. "Darklight God Sword!" He then yelled, smashing a long and thick blade of Darklight into Murlough's side and sending him flying in that direction.

Getting up once again as he felt the steel of his right arm begin to crack, Murlough launched himself into the air with his dark clouds, looking to do an aerial attack. Before he had even reached high enough though, Connor appeared above him, having used his Dragon State wings to fly up at the speed of sound, and slammed down on Murlough's chest. The hit sent him sprawling back down onto the platform's metal surface with a crash and before he even had a chance of getting back up, Connor landed above him, sticking a sword made out of dark clouds into the cracked arm and snapping it off.

Murlough gasped as his arm was broken, not being able to believe that he was being beaten. Connor took the opportunity to signal Kane again and this he got what he needed. "Found it!" Came Kane's cry, just as Murlough pushed Connor off with his dark clouds. Furious at losing a limb, Murlough cried into the air, calling all his dark cloud power into his remaining hand and preparing for one punch strong enough to end the fight in an instant. He punched forward, still crying out in fury, but soon his voice left him. Connor had launched a punch of his own, the Darklight surrounding his hand being enough to smash through the cracked metal of Murlough's chest and come out of the back.

"It's over."

Ending Music: http/youtu.be/YRLW-llroVw [Fuyugyaku Replace]

! Means a beat in the music

Wake in loneliness! Loneliness!

(Shows Connor standing on the naval platform)

Falling inside your story!

(Shows Murlough standing opposite him)

Walking after you! After you! (Zooms in Connor's face)

I will share my time!

(Shows naval platform)

(Shows Connor in Dragon State) OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS Maykoinda sekai de!

(Shows young Connor in front of his parents bodies)

Boku no kage to kasanatte

(Shows Murlough in Connor's hometown)

Ima! I can't go back!

(Shows Connor losing control of the dark clouds in his hometown) Ketteiteki no boku shoumei wa! (Shows Connor in his original outfit) Jidai wo ima koete monogataru! (Shows Ruby reach out in front of her)

I will be the brand new age!

(Shows Team Kalos and Allies) Yeah! From this day!

(Shows young Connor and Murlough walking)

I will save myself!

(Shows Connor with Kane's shadow behind him)

And the time is now!

(Connor opens his eyes, one is black, one is gold)

Kill my weakness!

(Shows Connor in his original outfit running towards volume 2 Murlough)

Weakness!

(They change to their volume 3 versions)

Kanarazu koete naite satte!

(Shows a flashback of the Murlough VS Connor fight from volume 2)

And I stay alive!

(Their semblances hit each other) Alive!

(Shows the naval base in a fiery explosion)

Saigo wo shinjitaku wa nakute! (Shows Connor's village being destroyed by black clouds)

Kill my weakness! Weakness! (Shows Murlough summoning dark clouds all around him)

Itsuka kidsuita to shita mo!

(Shows Connor going into Dragon State)

I will prove myself that I have lived today!

(Shows Connor and Murlough fighting in their most powerful states)

Starting now!

(They both hit each other's fists and let off their semblances)

END

Next time: The Final Chapter Of The Fighting!


	36. Chapter 36- Forgiveness

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 36

Forgiveness

 **Second to last chapter, here we go. Volume 4, my favourite one so far, is just around the corner.**

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/KSLG_oeD1yw [Attention Question- Tohka]

! Means a beat in the music

Music Starts

(Shows Daryl standing in Dust Valley, holding a gun. He raises his arm and points the gun whilst flashbacks of his team and his past appear behind him)

Music stops for about a split second then starts again

(Shows Connor standing in Dust Valley, looking at the ground with hair covering his eyes. He looks up as flashbacks of Team Kalos and the rest of his friends appear behind him)

(Connor runs at Daryl and aims a punch)

(Daryl fires his gun)

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS!

Are kore kakaekonde omoeba iranai mono made

(Shows Connor sitting with his head between his legs)

Umaku naru iiwake to myou

(Shows Ruby sitting inside of Connor's head with her legs drawn up to her chest)

na PURIADO!

(Shows Kalos sitting on top of the stone wall)

Jibun wo tana ni agete (Shows Jim, Yang, Kane, Irileth, Mars, and Stephane standing in Dust Valley, their hair and clothesflapping in the wind)

hito no koto aadakouda!

(Shows Murlough standing on the naval platform amongst the dead bodies of the generals)

Iu tsumori mo nai kedo!

(Zooms in on Murlough's face as he punches his hand and grins evilly)

Mukishitsuni

(Shows Daryl towards someone) Mawaru Tic and Tac!

(Shows Damien walking towards Daryl)

Ganbaru tte

(Connor and Kane approach Daryl from either side)

nandarou!

(Connor and Kane charge at Daryl) Attention! Question! Nantonaku nagasateru socchi no mizu wa (Shows Connor and Kane fighting Daryl with their semblances)

amai desuka!

(They hit Daryl's air current barrier with their golden light and black clouds)

YES/NO!

(Shows Isabella in tattered clothes with purple energy around her) YES/NO!

(Shows Mars with green energy around him)

Atari mimawashita totan ni!

(They shoot their energy blasts at each other)

Koko dake

(Connor goes into Dragon State and launches himself off a rock face)

toki ga tomaru

(He flies out and hits Daryl) COLOUR!

(Shows a massive light in Dust Valley)

(Shows Connor on the naval platform)

(Shows Murlough on the naval platform)

(Shows Murlough and Connor looking at each other from afar, Murlough with black clouds trailing from him, Connor with golden light trailing from one hand and black clouds trailing from the other) (They charge at each other)

END

Connor's fist had punched through the steel exterior of Murlough's chest and smashed out of the back. In his hand, he tightly gripped the robotic core of Murlough's body that sent aura to all his metal limbs. He clung onto it, squeezing it a little in his grip as Murlough's mouth hung open as if he couldn't breathe. "I've seen it all." Connor said, catching Murlough's hazy gaze. "Thanks to Kane, he went inside your mind and took a peek, when he had enough time." Connor then stopped for a second, looking up to stare Murlough right in the eyes. "He saw your past, your darkness, and now I'm gonna pull you out of that darkness, with my light."

"What are you going on about?!" Murlough responded croakily, gasping as Connor gripped his core a little harder.

"Kane used the Kalos Crystal as a medium, he saw inside your head, the heart of your darkness." Connor continued, talking over the end of Murlough's sentence as he looked down at the ground solemnly. "He saw what's troubling you, why you're like this, why you pretty much went insane. I saw it too, he told me everything."

"I don't know what you're talking about, you-!" Murlough snarled back, before falling into wheezes as he caught his breath, his core in Connor's hand beginning to leak fluids.

"My parents."

When Murlough heard that he stopped wheezing, his breathing suddenly stabilising. He raised his head back up, having hunched over in his sorry state, staring at Connor with fear in his eyes for the first time in years. Connor returned the stare, but with one of seriousness. "It all started when you killed my parents." He repeated.

Connor could see that Murlough was affected by that, his eyes dilated, perhaps in shock, and what was left of his damaged body was shaking slightly. His stare never left Connor's face, a look of fright, fear for his life. "You were working for Damien at the time, this was back when he was a bad egg." Connor started to explain, although he knew Murlough already knew all of the story, he wanted to clarify that he knew it too. "He had forced you to do some pretty bad things, kidnapping, theft, arson on unoccupied buildings, light torture, but never murder. He never told you to kill anyone."

"Stop it..." Murlough practically begged, his body trembling in fear of what he thought Connor knew. It was the first time in so many years he had felt fear, the first time since then. "Shut up...I don't want to hear this...shut up!"

"It was the night Kane had run away with the Kalos Crystal, you had been ordered to go after him and retrieve it." Connor continued, ignoring Murlough's cries. "You found a village, knew Kane had gone through it, you couldn't go around. You went in, through one of the huts, two people were in there. My mother and father."

"Shut up!" Came another shout.

"They knew who you were, even out there the Outlaws were famous criminals. They told you to leave, wouldn't let you past into the village centre. There was no other way in, it was walled off." Connor kept going. "You considered what might happen to you if Damien heard you failed to retrieve the Kalos Crystal, you tried to push past, they didn't let you. You were scared to death of Damien back then, you thought he'd kill you if you failed. Out of desperation, you struck out at my mother and father, you brutally slaughtered them in their own home while I was in the fields meeting Kane for the first time."

"SHUT UP!"

"They were dead in front of you, their bodies were at your feet. You looked at what you had done, it was way worse than any of your other crimes." Connor grimly went on. "You had killed to avoid the possibility of being killed. When you still didn't get the Kalos Crystal, Damien didn't kill you. He had you beaten to within an inch of your life, but he didn't kill you. You felt regret, my parents hadn't needed to die. You begged the gods for forgiveness."

"SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Murlough then screamed and cut off Connor, shaking uncontrollably. He raised his one remaining arm and lashed out at Connor, but he simply brushed it with his hand, golden light just touching it. The arm melted away into pieces of black dust, which floated away in the wind, leaving Murlough with no hands.

"The aura in your body is all but gone, a slight tap on the head with my semblance would kill you." Connor warned him, deterring him from any other attacks, then continued on with the same solemn tone of voice. "After that incident, Damien got worse. He started asking you to attack people, not specifically kill them, but he didn't care either way. You thought it didn't matter anymore, you had already killed once so you couldn't be saved. You killed again and again and again until the darkness swallowed you whole, it drove you mad. You became someone who didn't care about murder, but deep down, there's still that little shred of decency wishing for forgiveness."

Murlough was now completely silent, staring at his enemy, who had just recounted the life story of his heart and pains. He had gotten to the core of him, uncovered what had caused his darkness unlike anybody else. He didn't know what to say. "Damien said to me, before he died, that I should use my light to drag people out of the darkness." Connor recalled. "The way I see the world, there's a whole of of darkness, but an equal amount of light. There are those who spend their days recruiting more and more to the darkness, so someone has to do the same for the light to keep the balance. I came into this battle to use my light to drag you out of your darkness, so you can at least die with a smile on your face, knowing your on the light side, so here goes."

"I forgive you, I forgive you for killing my parents."

Without another word, Connor then pulled his arm back and tore Murlough's robotic core from his chest. Murlough gasped, with mouth wide open in shock as he felt his aura leaving him. Connor tossed the core to the side, Murlough fell backwards, his wreck of a body hitting the ground with a thump.

A drop of rain. Another. More dropping all at once. Quickly came showering rain, as if nature itself wanted to set the mood or maybe even pay tribute to the moment. Connor stared down at Murlough as he breathed some of his last breaths, so glad for it to be over, a weight lifting from his heart. Murlough felt a similar weight lifting. After all the time he had spent secretly regretting his first kill and being dragged down into the abyss of darkness and insanity, he had finally been forgiven by the person he had probably hurt the most. He smiled weakly to himself as he lay there, dying, feeling the light dispel his darkness. "You're...one crazy guy..." He muttered to Connor, secretly thanking him in his head.

A flash of purple. Kane appeared kneeling beside his brothers dying form, looking down on the mess he had become because of that one regret. Rain fell on his hair and clothes, but he cared not. It was the first time he had been able to sit aside his brother since he had left the Outlaws, he wanted to savour it, rain be damned. "You went through a phase huh?" He said to his older sibling, trying to lighten the situation but still looking glum. Connor had never seen such an expression on Kane's face before.

"A phase? I killed about ninety people." Murlough responded jokingly, coughing as he tried to let out a chuckle. The two stared at each other for a moment after that, unsure of what to say. It was the first time in so long they'd seen each other as brothers rather than traitorous scum.

"Hey brother..." Murlough then said in a more serious tone, giving Kane tears around his eyes just by calling him brother in such a way. "Have a good life...don't do what I did, don't be swallowed by the darkness. Our semblance is pretty much the embodiment of it, but I'm pretty sure with light boy by your side, you'll be just fine."

"I'll be fine." Kane replied, tearing up a little bit, much to Connor's surprise. "I...I'm sorry it came to this, big bro."

Murlough seemed happy to hear that confession from his brother. "Me too..." He said as his eyes shut, his last grain of life leaving his body, for good this time. Kane and Connor stood in the rain and stared at his body solemnly, neither of them saying a word. It didn't need to be said, they both knew what the phase they were thinking was.

Forgiveness

Ending Music: http/youtu.be/YRLW-llroVw [Fuyugyaku Replace]

! Means a beat in the music

Wake in loneliness! Loneliness!

(Shows Connor standing on the naval platform)

Falling inside your story!

(Shows Murlough standing opposite him)

Walking after you! After you! (Zooms in Connor's face)

I will share my time!

(Shows naval platform)

(Shows Connor in Dragon State) OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS Maykoinda sekai de!

(Shows young Connor in front of his parents bodies)

Boku no kage to kasanatte

(Shows Murlough in Connor's hometown)

Ima! I can't go back!

(Shows Connor losing control of the dark clouds in his hometown) Ketteiteki no boku shoumei wa! (Shows Connor in his original outfit) Jidai wo ima koete monogataru! (Shows Ruby reach out in front of her)

I will be the brand new age!

(Shows Team Kalos and Allies) Yeah! From this day!

(Shows young Connor and Murlough walking)

I will save myself!

(Shows Connor with Kane's shadow behind him)

And the time is now!

(Connor opens his eyes, one is black, one is gold)

Kill my weakness!

(Shows Connor in his original outfit running towards volume 2 Murlough)

Weakness!

(They change to their volume 3 versions)

Kanarazu koete naite satte!

(Shows a flashback of the Murlough VS Connor fight from volume 2)

And I stay alive!

(Their semblances hit each other) Alive!

(Shows the naval base in a fiery explosion)

Saigo wo shinjitaku wa nakute! (Shows Connor's village being destroyed by black clouds)

Kill my weakness! Weakness! (Shows Murlough summoning dark clouds all around him)

Itsuka kidsuita to shita mo!

(Shows Connor going into Dragon State)

I will prove myself that I have lived today!

(Shows Connor and Murlough fighting in their most powerful states)

Starting now!

(They both hit each other's fists and let off their semblances)

END


	37. Chapter 37- Epilogue

Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 37

Epilogue

 **Just a quick little epilogue for this volume. I changed the music to one I think evokes the emotions a little better.**

Music: https/youtu.be/fV3Fu5csdcA [Re Zero Insert Song: Rem- Wishing]

About a year later, Connor stood up on the main stage of Beacons entrance hall, the faces of many students new and old alike looking up at him. He was stood behind a pedestal, having been asked by Ozpin to make a speech, the rest of his team behind him. He hadn't prepared any words, Ozpin had sprung it on him quite suddenly, so he just said what came to mind and hoped it would suffice.

"Today is my last day at Beacon Academy." He spoke, loudly enough for all in the hall to hear him. "I've been here for two years now, not here for all of it, but enough. During those two years, I experienced great joy and great dread, everything from unbelievably terrible situations to shining happy ones. I've been hurt, I've seen the ones I care about being hurt. At the end of the day, I learned one important lesson from all my time here at Beacon, something that I hope you will all take on as well, carrying on the Beacon spirit. Find someone to care about, to care for, that's where true strength comes from. Don't settle for raw power, having someone to fight for is so much more special." He then stopped for a moment and held out a hand towards a certain individual in the crowd. "Come up here, Rubes."

Ruby did just that, standing up and weaving through the crowd to get to the stage as everyone watched her, wondering why she was so important. When she was up next to Connor, he put his arm around her, their wedding rings glistening in the sun as it shine through the window at the front of the hall, and continued, "Ruby Rose, the one I care about. Find someone like this." He told the students. "If you can find someone to care about and care for like I do Ruby, then protect that person with all your willpower. You can spend the rest of your life protecting them if you want to, I know I will."

Coming to the end of his speech, Connor finalised, "So that's it I guess, that's all I want to say to you all. With that, Team Kalos and all the others on this stage with me today, leave Beacon to begin our lives as hunters and huntresses. Sayonara." Thus his speech was concluded, the team's being met with a round of applause as they walked out of Beacon, never to return there as students, going out into the world to fend for themselves."

A couple of days afterward, Connor and Ruby stood with Ozpin in front of a house on a street in Vale. The conjoined house was perfectly beautiful, looking small from the outside but being big enough for the two of them. Ozpin had brought the house for the two as a gift to celebrate them leaving Beacon, Connor holding the keys in one hand whilst his other was holdings Ruby's tightly.

"Thanks again, old man. I'll pay you back for this some day." Connor said gratefully, still looking the house up and down.

"No need, you have earned it, plus..." Ozpin replied, trailing off before continuing his sentence. Connor wondered what he was going to say and why he had hesitated, then the words. "I have always thought of you sort of like a grandson."

A gentle breeze flew past the three of them, their hair and clothes flapping in the wind. Connor looked at Ozpin, emotions rising within him as the headmaster continued. "When I first found you, after you were separated from Mars and had nowhere to go, many of my colleagues told me to leave you. They rightly said you would have been able to fend for yourself, but I was worried." He monologued, Connor and Ruby closely listening. "I saw the darkness in your heart, in Kane's, and I knew that if you were left alone it would only develop further. I predicted you would be trapped in a cycle of hate and misery, perhaps becoming something akin to what Murlough was. I took you to Beacon with the hope that somehow it would help you avoid that path of life, and within mere days the people you met proved that it was possible. You overcame obstacle after obstacle, defeating every barrier in your path and continuing forward, with a certain someone in your heart."

Ruby blushes at that when she realised it was her Ozpin was referring to, hugging tighter to Connor's arm and hiding her embarrassed face. "What I am trying to say Connor, is that you are more to me than just a student. I've watched you develop as a person and a fighter, you are like a grandson to me." Ozpin finished, then looked at the watch on his wrist and exclaimed, "Oh, I'd better be going now, I'll be late for the new student trials."

As Ozpin walked away, Connor desperately wanted to say something to him. He wanted to tell him he was thankful or perhaps something more. He couldn't find the words, they wouldn't reach his throat, all he could manage was, "I'll make you proud."

Smiling as he continued to stroll away down the street, Ozpin simply replied, "Make me proud? You did that a long time ago Connor, a long time ago."

Tears welled up in Connor's eyes as Ozpin left. The two of them hadn't ever conveyed their feelings for each other all that much, but they both knew what they were to each other. They were like family, as close to one as Connor had had for a long time. A tear ran down his cheek silently as he tried not to fall apart, Ruby growing concerned when she saw the tear. "Connor, what's wrong?"

Wiping the tears from his face with his sleeve and clearing his throat as he pretended that he hadn't been crying, Connor held his up high and hugged Ruby close to him as they stood in front of their new home. "Yeah, I'm fine." He said, his voice still a little shaky. "Everything's perfect."

Connor awoke many hours later, in the middle of the night, Ruby nudging him and calling his name. Opening his eyes, he saw that they were both laying on their new bed in the pyjamas. "You fell asleep when I was talking to you." Ruby said with a giggle, moving closer to Connor and tapping their noses together.

Connor chuckled back at her and looked into her eyes, so happy to finally be with her like this, in a home together. "We've been through a lot..." He muttered quietly, feeling himself size of again as Ruby snuggled up next to him. "We're gonna go through a lot more, and I'll be here with you every step of the way."

Years later, the sunlight fell on three picture frames on the table of their living room. On the far left was a picture of Connor with the rest of his team, all of them in their new outfits. On the right was a picture of Nora grinning widely for a photograph with Irileth and Yang, both of them laughing at her expression. The final picture, the picture in the middle, showed Connor and Ruby. Their young son stood in front of them, and another newborn baby in Ruby's arms.

They lived happily ever after...

...or did they?

VOLUME 4 COMING SOON


End file.
